State agencies draw down 93% of cash allocations in H1

MANILA, Philippines – State agencies utilized P1.72 trillion worth of notices of cash allocation (NCA) in the first half of the year as they moved to implement programs that address the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, according to the Department of Budget and Management (DBM).

Latest data from the DBM showed the amount of NCAs used up by agencies accounted for 93 percent of the P1.85 trillion total NCAs released during the period.

While this is down from the 98 percent utilization rate recorded in the same period last year, this is deemed “a good indicator that government agencies are still able to quickly disburse their allocated funds and to implement their programs and projects amid the COVID-19 pandemic.”

In the first half of 2019, the DBM released P1.34 trillion worth of NCAs to agencies, lower than the amount released this year. The DBM said P1.31 trillion of this was utilized.

NCA refers to the disbursement authority issued by the DBM to cover the cash requirements for the operations, programs and projects of government agencies.

As of June 30, NCA releases to line departments amounted to P1.32 trillion, of which  P1.19 trillion had been utilized by the Department of National Defense, the Judiciary, and the Commission on Audit.

According to the DBM,  agencies implementing social amelioration programs, namely, the Department of Social Welfare and Development and the Department of Labor and Employment have used up 65 percent and 97 percent of their NCAs, respectively.

Meanwhile, infrastructure agencies, including the Department of Public Works and Highways and the Department of Transportation have a year-to-date NCA utilization rate of 99 percent and 96 percent, respectively.

“The Department of Health, on the other hand, has utilized P85.98 billion of the P95.94 billion released to them for the first half of the year, equivalent to a 90 percent NCA utilization rate,” the DBM said.

In a separate report, the DBM said the government released P360.46 billion in cash allocations as of the end of June specifically for COVID-19 expenses.

Of this amount, P252.62 billion was sourced from savings generated from discontinued programs, activities and projects. About P97.84 million came from special purpose funds, P9.95 billion from regular agency budget and P42.79 million from trusts receipts.