Gov’t spending on infra jumps 47%

Government spending on infrastructure jumped 47 percent year-on-year to P437.2 billion at end-July, as the government rolled out more road and flood control projects as well as bought military equipment, the Department of Budget and Management said Wednesday.

The latest DBM data showed that expenditures on infrastructure and other capital outlays rose from P297.5 billion during the first seven months of last year.

In the month of July alone, disbursements for public infrastructure projects climbed 36.1 percent to P84.5 billion from P48.4 billion a year ago.

The amount spent on infrastructure in July was also higher than the P71.9 billion in June.

In a statement, Budget Secretary Benjamin E. Diokno attributed the surge in government infrastructure spending to the Duterte administration’s ambitious “Build, Build, Build” program.

“The implementation of infrastructure projects by the Department of Public Works and Highways continues to pace infrastructure disbursements. In particular, these include nationwide road construction, improvement, and widening projects; the Pasig-Marikina River Channel Improvement Project; and flood control, drainage, and dike improvement and rehabilitation projects,” Diokno said.

“Capital acquisition through the Armed Forces of the Philippines Modernization Program (such as Frigate Acquisition Project and Civil Engineering Equipment Acquisition Project), and capital outlay projects (such as procurement of machinery, aircraft, and aircraft equipment) of the Department of Transportation-Philippine Coast Guard also contributed to higher infrastructure and other capital spending,” the Budget chief added.

For the entire 2018, the government had programmed to spend a total of P775.4 billion on infrastructure and other capital outlays.