Government releases over half of 2012 budget

MANILA, Philippines - The Aquino administration has released more than half of its budget for the year as the government continues to step up efforts to boost spending, the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) said yesterday.

From January to April, the government released 69.2 percent or P1.26 trillion of its P1.816 trillion national budget for 2012.

Bulk of the releases went to all government agencies while a portion was used for interest payments and internal revenue allotments. The rest went to the government’s Special Purpose Funds.

Of the P1.26 trillion in total releases, P796.2 billion went to all government departments, comprising 92.9 percent of the P856.9-billion budget appropriated for them.

The government released P416.217 billion under Automatic Appropriations, which include interest payments and internal revenue allotments.

Releases under the Special Purpose Funds, meanwhile, amounted to P33.873 billion.

Under the budget for departments, budget releases for Personal Services are almost complete, data from the department showed.

This comprised 99.8 percent or P425.11 billion of the P426.16-billion budget released to agencies for Personal Services.

Similarly, releases for Maintenance and Other Operating Expenditures (MOOE) improved to 98.3 percent or P218.22 billion of the P222.39-billion budget set for it.

Releases for Capital Outlays, however, remain at 73.2 percent of the P208.4-billion budget or a total of P152.6 billion.

Government releases under Special Purpose Funds increased from the previous month’s figures, with 14.4 percent or P33.9 billion. This is higher than the 5.8-percent release rate recorded from January to March, the DBM said.

For the month of April, releases under this item covered the terminal leave and retirement benefits of retiring government employees. It also covered the third tranche salary increase under the Salary Standardization Law (SSL III) and the subsidy requirements of government-owned or -controlled corporations, the department reported.

Releases under Automatic Appropriations also went up to 57.5 percent or P416.2 billion as of end-April from 49.9 percent as of end-March.