Gov’t infra spending up 45% in Jan

MANILA, Philippines - Government spending for infrastructure surged  45.1 percent in January this year, reflecting the Aquino administration’s commitment to further expand the economy through strategic infrastructure investments.

In a report, the Department of Budget and Management said the disbursement for capital outlays and infrastructure reached P23.8 billion, P7.4 billion higher than the P16.4 billion recorded in January 2013.

Budget Secretary Florencio “Butch” Abad said the increased spending was mainly due to disbursements related to reconstruction and rehabilitation efforts on areas devastated by Super Typhoon Yolanda.

All in all, total national government expenditures  grew 15.9 percent to P183 billion this year

“With new budget reforms in place, expenditures hit the ground running to post a strong start for government spending in 2014. These reforms - including the GAA-as-Release Document policy - helped spur faster disbursements for key programs, including those for post-calamity reconstruction and rehabilitation projects. What’s particularly notable is that we were able to ramp up expenditures to levels that would have been expected of election season, and we’re definitely a good way off from that,” Abad said.

Abad likewise pointed out that the 75 percent expansion of the budget deficit manifests the administration’s  commitment to accelerate spending at the start of the year.

“The front-loading of expenditures in the first semester also fits very well with our goal of sustaining the country’s growth trajectory this year,” Abad said.

Abad  reported that 86 percent of the allotments for national government agencies and departments under the 2014 General Appropriations Act (GAA) have already been released through the GAA-as-Release Document policy.

“The impact of budget reform on our spending performance cannot be emphasized enough. By aiming for swifter and more efficient fund releases, agencies can move quickly in obligating their allocations. What’s so important about this is that fast disbursements will naturally give way to the prompt delivery of public goods and services. Our aim is to meet the public’s expectations of our governance agenda, where transformative and efficient leadership can directly benefit the people,” Abad said.

Major allotment releases for January include those for the Agriculture and Fisheries Modernization Program of the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR), Development of Crop Sector Program of the Department of Agriculture (DA), provision for the creation of new teaching positions and GASTPE scholarship program of the Department of Education (DepEd), and the network development and asset preservation of national roads, flood control projects and other various infrastructure projects of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), among others.

Infrastructure and capital outlay were buoyed by the various projects of the DPWH and the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC), as well as the Health Facilities Enhancement Program of the Department of Health (DOH).

The implementation of Grassroots Participatory Budgeting infrastructure projects (formerly Bottom-up Budgeting) under the Payapa at Masaganang Pamayanan (PAMANA) and the Health, Education, Livelihood, Peace and Governance, and Synergy (H.E.L.P.S) programs in ARMM also contributed to the expansion.