Public spending on infrastructure declined 5.5 percent year-on-year to P628.5 billion as of end-October, even as the government was fast-tracking disbursements to catch up with the 6-6.5 percent economic growth target for the entire year.
The latest Department of Budget and Management (DBM) data released on Monday showed that expenditures on infrastructure and other capital outlays from January to October dropped from P665.1 billion during the same 10-month period last year.
During the month of October alone, infrastructure spending fell by a faster 12.9 percent to P82.2 billion from P94.4 billion a year ago.
In a report, the DBM blamed “lower capital spending of agencies as compared to the previous year.”
At the start of the year, the government underspent by P1 billion a day on public goods and services as it operated using a reenacted 2018 budget from January to April.
The P3.7-trillion 2019 national budget was signed by President Duterte only in mid-April, as legislators had squabbled over alleged “pork” insertions in this year’s spending bill.
In a separate report on Monday, the DBM said it already released as of end-November P3.622 trillion or 98.9 percent of the 2019 budget.
Despite the late approval of this year’s budget, releases in the first 11 months were faster than the 96.5-percent released during the same period last year, although from the bigger P3.767-trillion 2018 budget.
A remaining balance of P39.5 billion should be still be released this month. INQ