Government spending rises 10% to P455 billion in November  

MANILA, Philippines — The government ramped up its expenditures in November to P455 billion, largely due to higher national tax allotment of local government units (LGUs) and other spending on social programs.

Data from the Bureau of the Treasury showed the national government increased its spending last month by 10 percent from P412.7 billion in the same period last year.

The over P40-billion increase on a yearly basis was attributed to the larger national tax allotment (NTA) of LGUs.

This is in line with the Supreme Court ruling that increased LGU share in national tax collections.

Following the implementation of the Mandanas ruling, LGUs are now getting a bigger share in the collection of national taxes, with their NTA coming from 40 percent of all national taxes collected by the Bureau of Internal Revenue and the Bureau of Customs.

Previously, the share of LGUs came only from the taxes collected by the BIR.

Adding to higher state spending in November are payouts for the social protection programs of the Department of Social Welfare and Development, including cash aids for low-income households impacted by the still-elevated inflation.

The government likewise disbursed resources for capital outlay projects of the Department of Public Works and Highways.

The yearend bonus and cash gift of government employees also contributed to the larger expenditure in November.

The Department of Budget and Management released P65.3 billion in bonuses and cash gifts to government workers last month.

Of the amount, P56.73 billion was earmarked for the grant of the yearend bonus for qualified civilian and military and uniformed personnel in various government agencies.

Another P8.62 billion was appropriated for cash gifts under this year’s budget.

Meanwhile, year-to-date disbursement has reached P4.51 trillion, up 10 percent from the January to November 2021 level of P4.1 trillion.

This is already 91 percent of the P5-trillion full-year program.