Infra spending up 25.2% to P43.3B in January

Spending on infrastructure jumped by a fourth to P43.3 billion in January, making a good case for a first quarter economic growth that’s within target, according to Budget Secretary Benjamin E. Diokno.

The Department of Budget and Management (DBM) data released on Wednesday showed expenditures on infrastructure and other capital outlays at the start of the year grew 25.2 percent from P34.5 billion in January last year.

In a report, the DBM attributed the increase to “completed projects by the Department of Public Works and Highways (such as construction of school buildings, flood control and mitigation projects, and ‘lahar’ control works in Central Luzon).”

Also, the higher infrastructure spending figure came on the back of communication equipment purchases under the Armed Forces of the Philippines modernization program being implemented by the Department of National Defense, the DBM added.

Moving forward, Diokno told a press conference that the massive “Build, Build, Build” infrastructure program is expected to further bolster spending in the coming months.

Under “Build, Build, Build”, the government plans to roll out 75 flagship projects, about half of which could be finished within President Duterte’s term. Some P8 trillion would be put aside for hard and modern infrastructure until 2022 in a bid to jump-start what the government billed as the “golden age of infrastructure.”

The government aims to increase the share of infrastructure spending to gross domestic product to 6.1 percent this year, Diokno noted.

As the government embarks on massive infrastructure buildup, the GDP would have grown by at least 7 percent in the first quarter, Diokno said.

The government targets 7-8 percent GDP growth in 2018.

The first-quarter GDP figure will be released in May.