84% of 2016 budget released as of April

THE GOVERNMENT has released a total of P2.5 trillion or 83.5 percent of the 2016 national budget as of April, the latest Department of Budget and Management data showed.

The share of end-April releases to this year’s P3-trillion budget, which also included continuing appropriations under the 2015 national budget as well as other automatic appropriations, matched the 83.5 percent released during the first four months of last year.

For releases covering the original 2016 general appropriations act, allotment releases as of end-April reached P2.49 trillion or 82.8 percent of the program.

Comprehensive releases to government departments during the first four months amounted to P1.49 trillion or 92.2 percent of the adjusted programmed amount of almost P1.62 trillion.

As for special purpose funds, P127.6 billion or 28.3 percent of the adjusted P451.2 billion programmed for 2016 were released as of April.

The DBM had transferred P42.9 billion from department budgets to special purpose funds.

Automatic appropriations—programmed over a period prescribed by law through outstanding legislation requiring periodic action by Congress—worth P865.7 billion or 93 percent of the allocation for this year were released during the first four months.

These automatic appropriations included retirement and life insurance premium, internal revenue allotment for local government units, pensions of former presidents as well as ex-presidents’ widows, grants and donations, special account in the general fund (including motor vehicle user’s charge fund), net lending, interest payments and releases under the tax expenditures fund for customs duties and taxes to be paid for government importation.

Also released as of end-April were P19.03 billion from continuing and automatic appropriations for departments, special purpose funds, as well as for grants and donations, the military camps sales proceeds fund and the Armed Forces of the Philippines Modernization Act trust fund.

A balance of P496.3 billion remained for disbursement before yearend.