MANILA, Philippines – The spending efficiency of government agencies slowed in May as key departments underspent their allocations, latest data from the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) showed.
According to the DBM’s report on the status of Notices of Cash Allocation (NCAs), the government’s budget utilization rate slipped to 89 percent as of end-May. Agencies utilized P2.11 trillion out of the P2.37 trillion in cash allocations released, leaving about P260.8 billion unused.
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This was lower than the 94-percent utilization rate recorded in the same period last year.
NCAs refer to the authority issued by the DBM that allows agencies to withdraw funds from the Treasury to cover the cash requirements of their operations, programs and projects.
A lower utilization rate indicates that agencies are slower in disbursing released funds, potentially affecting the timely implementation of government programs and projects.
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Government departments accounted for most of the unused allocations, utilizing only P1.33 trillion out of the P1.59 trillion released to them, equivalent to an 83.8-percent utilization rate.
Among the major agencies, the Department of Public Works and Highways posted one of the weakest utilization rates at 63.9 percent. The agency used P173.5 billion of the P271.4 billion in cash allocations released to it, leaving nearly P98 billion unspent—the largest unused balance among all departments.
The Department of Education, which received the largest share of NCA releases at P388.9 billion, recorded an 88.8-percent utilization rate. It utilized P345.4 billion, leaving P43.4 billion unused, the second-largest idle balance among government agencies.
Other departments with relatively low utilization rates included the Department of Agriculture (65.1 percent; P20.9 billion of P32.2 billion), the Department of Transportation (72.9 percent; P26.6 billion of P36.5 billion), and the Department of Social Welfare and Development (77.4 percent; P139.1 billion of P179.7 billion).
In contrast, several agencies nearly exhausted their allocations during the period.
The Department of Foreign Affairs utilized 99.5 percent of its cash releases (P8.67 billion of P8.7 billion), while the Department of Energy and the Department of National Defense posted utilization rates of 98.6 percent (P20.9 billion of P21.2 billion) and 98 percent (P163 billion of P166 billion), respectively. The Department of the Interior and Local Government also recorded a high utilization rate of 95.8 percent (P141.9 billion of P148.2 billion).
Outside the departments, fund utilization remained strong.
Transfers to local government units (LGUs) and budgetary support to government-owned and controlled corporations posted a combined utilization rate of 99.6 percent.
LGUs, which accounted for more than P607 billion in allocations, utilized virtually all of their released funds. Meanwhile, subsidies to state-owned firms recorded a 98.4-percent utilization rate, with P164.5 billion of the P167.1 billion released already spent. /pai INQ