Among government agencies
MANILA, Philippines — Several national government agencies had yet to fully utilize their cash allocations as of end-August, with the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) and the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) posting the lowest utilization rates among major departments.
Data from the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) showed that notices of cash allocation (NCAs) increased by eight percent to P3.62 trillion as of end-August from P3.36 trillion in the same period last year.
Government agencies posted a slightly lower utilization rate of 92.7 percent from 93.8 percent in the same period last year.
Of the total releases, P3.36 trillion had been utilized, leaving P264.05 billion unused as of end-August.
NCAs are disbursement orders by the DBM to government banks servicing the release of funds to agencies. State agencies are expected to use the NCAs to pay for the cash requirements of their programs and projects.
Line departments accounted for the bulk of total NCA releases, receiving P2.47 trillion. The remaining P1.15 trillion was directed to other agencies, especially state-run firms and local governments.
Departments registered a utilization rate of 89.6 percent, using P2.21 trillion of the P2.47 trillion NCA releases. This was down from the 91.9 percent utilization rate a year earlier.
Among the major agencies, the DPWH, currently embroiled in a flood-control scandal, posted one of the weakest utilization rates, at 78.4 percent. This was lower than the 94.3 percent utilization rate recorded a year ago.
The public works agency utilized P324.23 billion of its P413.69 billion cash allocations, leaving nearly P89.46 billion unspent.
DOLE’s utilization rate stood at 71.6 percent, with P31.44 billion utilized from its P43.9 billion cash allocation. It has P12.46 billion left unused.
The Office of the President, meanwhile, had the lowest utilization rate at 68.4 percent, having used P8.37 billion of its P12.23 billion in NCA releases.
Meanwhile, the Department of Education, which received the largest share of NCA releases at P569.2 billion, recorded a 93.2-percent utilization rate. It utilized P530.71 billion, leaving P38.49 billion unused.
Other departments that posted utilization rates above 90 percent included the Department of Foreign Affairs (99.2 percent of P14.46 billion), the Department of Energy (98.9 percent of P31.86 billion), the Department of National Defense (97.4 percent of P267 billion), the Department of the Interior and Local Government (96.4 percent of P235.1 billion) and the Department of Social Welfare and Development (91.8 percent of P240.41 billion).
No line department recorded a full 100 percent utilization rate during the period.
Budgetary support to government-owned and controlled corporations and allocation to government units had a combined utilization rate of 99.4 percent.