5-month gov’t infra spending down 12.2%

The amount spent by the government to build infrastructure during the first five months declined 12.2 percent year-on-year to P235.2 billion as construction of public projects stopped at the height of the COVID-19 quarantine, believed to be one of the most stringent in the region.

The latest Department of Budget and Management (DBM) data released on Monday showed that disbursements on infrastructure and other capital outlays from January to May dropped from P267.9 billion a year ago.

In a report, the DBM blamed the lower expenditures on public infrastructure during the first five months to “base effect of high infrastructure expenditures in the same period last year brought about by the payment of prior years’ accounts payables, and the temporary suspension of construction activities due to the ECQ,” referring to the enhanced community quarantine imposed in Luzon and other parts of the country with high COVID-19 cases in a bid to contain the spread of the deadly coronavirus.

The ECQ that started in mid-March had put a halt to 75 percent of the economy, which slid into a recession and shed millions of jobs.

The Inter-Agency Task Force on the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases had thumbed down the economic team’s earlier proposal for implementing agencies to continue construction of big-ticket infrastructure projects even as there was a lull in other economic activities during the lockdown.

The COVID-19 lockdown was gradually eased to general community quarantine (GCQ) by June, which allowed three-fourths of economic activities, including construction, to resume with minimum health standards.

During the month of May alone, infrastructure spending fell 36.7 percent to P38.9 billion from P61.5 billion a year ago, which the DBM attributed to “the stoppage of construction activities due to the extended implementation of the ECQ for most parts of Luzon and key areas in the Visayas regions.”

As the economy moved to less-restrictive quarantine, the DBM said infrastructure activities were ongoing as both the Department of Public Works and Highways and the Department of Transportation remained committed to fast-track construction works despite the onset of the rainy season, especially in areas which have transitioned to GCQ and modified GCQ such as in the Visayas, Mindanao, and most parts of Luzon. INQ