Infrastructure, other outlays up 83.4% in October

MANILA, Philippines — Government spending on infrastructure and other capital outlays surged by 83.4 percent in October, the Department of Budget and Management reported on Wednesday, as billing claims and payments for completed infrastructure projects were made.

Infrastructure and other capital outlays climbed to P94.4 billion in October, up by P42.9 billion year-on-year.

From January to October, infrastructure disbursements grew 50.3 percent to P665.1 billion compared with the same period last year.

“The year-to-date figures remain impressive. Public spending is up by 24.8 percent in the first ten months of the year and this is no small feat considering our much bigger budget,” Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno said.

“More so, the drivers of spending growth remain to be infrastructure and human capital development, ensuring that taxpayer money is well spent,” Diokno added.

Widely known as the “Build, Build, Build” program, the government plans to ramp up infrastructure spending and supercharge economic growth to 7-8 percent by the end of President Rodrigo Duterte’s term in 2022.

More funding

Separately, the Department of Finance also on Wednesday said Daiwa Securities Group has offered to help provide funding for the Duterte administration’s infrastructure program and continue its support for the Philippines’ future yen-denominated bond issuances in the Japanese market.

In a meeting with Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III, top executives of Daiwa Securities led by its chairman Takashi Hibino said the bank “could be of help in terms of financing” to further accelerate infrastructure investments in the second half of the Duterte administration. 

Hibino also told Dominguez that Daiwa “is ready” for the Philippines’ next Samurai bond float and advised that the government should issue such bonds at least once a year — even if just modest amounts — to reach more investors.  

The Philippines’ multi-tranche issue was the largest Samurai transaction in Asia at JPY 154.2 billion. 

The 3-year tranche was priced 25 basis points (bps) above the benchmark, the 5-year at 35bps and the 10-year tranche at 60bps. It was the first time in almost 20 years that the government issued Samurai bonds on a stand-alone basis. — Ian Nicolas Cigaral