Gov’t infra spending up 33.7%, exceeds Q1 goal

The government exceeded its infrastructure spending target by nearly a tenth in the first quarter, with P157.1 billion in projects rolled out during the three-month period, the latest Department of Budget and Management data showed.

The amount spent by the national government on infrastructure and other capital outlays from January to March jumped 33.7 percent from P117.5 billion in the same period last year.

Actual expenditures for infrastructure also surpassed by 9.6 percent the first-quarter program of P143.4 billion.

In March alone, disbursements for infrastructure and other capital outlays rose to P63.4 billion from P47.9 billion a year ago and P50.5 billion a month ago.

In a report, the DBM attributed the climb in infrastructure spending last month “mostly to check floats and payments of accounts payables for the implementation of road infrastructure projects of the Department of Public Works and Highways, completed construction of police stations by Department of the Interior and Local Government-Philippine National Police, and repairs and rehabilitation of school facilities as well as purchase of office fixtures and furniture in various Department of Education schools nationwide.”

The DBM said that besides the disbursements on personnel services, expenditures on infrastructure helped propel total government spending for the first quarter to P782 billion, 3.5-percent higher than the P755.8-billion program.

The amount spent by the government on public goods and services during the January to March period also grew 27.1 percent from P615.4 billion last year.

The DBM said that government spending increased in the first three months “mainly due to encashment of check floats or disbursements from checks issued in the latter part of 2017 (such as retirement and gratuity claims), and settlements of accounts payable, specifically those infrastructure projects already completed in prior years.”

Under the 2018 national government quarterly fiscal program approved by the Cabinet-level Development Budget Coordination Committee during its meeting last Tuesday, the government was programmed to spend a total of P3.37 trillion this year, outpacing the revenue target of P2.846 trillion to result in a budget deficit of P523.7 billion, equivalent to 3 percent of gross domestic product.

“Consistent with the administration’s commitment to fill the gaps in public infrastructure through its ambitious ‘Build, Build, Build’ program, national government infrastructure spending will reach P699.3 billion in 2018, up by almost 40 percent, while overall infrastructure program composed of national government infrastructure, and infrastructure transfers to government-owned and/or -controlled corporations and local government units is set to P868.9 billion, equivalent to 5 percent of GDP,” the DBCC said.

Under the ambitious “Build, Build, Build,” the government plans to rollout 75 “game-changing” projects, with about half targeted to be finished within President Duterte’s term, alongside spending a total of over P8 trillion on hard and modern infrastructure until 2022 in a bid to usher in the “golden age of infrastructure.”

For 2018, spending on infrastructure and other capital outlays alone was programmed at P755.4 billion, with P194.8 billion, P194.3 billion and P242.8 billion to be disbursed in the next three quarters.