State agencies slower in utilizing cash budget

MANILA, Philippines — State agencies have utilized 88 percent of their notices of cash allocation (NCA) in the past 11 months to fund their projects and programs, slower than the utilization rate posted in the same period in 2017, data from the Department of Budget and Management showed.

According to the latest report from the DBM, implementing agencies have used up P2.6 trillion worth of NCAs as of end-November, equivalent to 88.4 percent of the P2.94 trillion total NCAs released during the period.

This leaves a balance of about P339.54 billion in NCAs yet to be utilized this year.

NCAs are required for agencies to claim their checks from the Bureau of the Treasury, which are then used to pay for projects and services.

Once utilized, funds are deemed disbursed and are recorded on the government’s balance sheet.

Compared to last year, the end-November NCA utilization rate of 88 percent is slower than the 90.7 percent recorded in the same period of 2017.

Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno had said before that the government may need to slow down with its expenditures for the rest of the year, as it has already spent above program in the first three quarters of 2018.

“For the rest of the year, we will slightly slow down because we are already overspending,” Diokno said in an earlier interview.

Based on data from the DBM, government spending as of end-September reached P2.49 trillion, 2.6 percent above the target of P2.43 trillion for the nine-month period.

Disbursements are targeted to reach P3.346 trillion by end-2018, equivalent to 19.1 percent of GDP.

Diokno said the government is not allowed to spend more than what has been allowed by Congress, hence the need for a slowdown in the last quarter of the year.