Budget delay slows release of cash allocations

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Budget and Management (DBM) adjusted downward the Notices of Cash Allocation (NCA) it released to line agencies in the first month of the year, as the government is still operating under a reenacted budget, the DBM said yesterday.

According to the latest DBM data, NCA released in January declined significantly to P211.9 billion from the P405.4 billion recorded in the same month last year.

“We had to calibrate NCA releases considering the 2019 budget had yet to be passed in January 2019,” Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno said in a statement.

Still, the DBM said government agencies were quicker to spend last month, utilizing 60 percent or P127 billion of Notices of Cash Allocation during the period. The NCA utilization rate was higher than the 33 percent registered in January last year.

Diokno said the higher utilization ratio indicates that agencies “are quicker on their feet in implementing programs and projects in the first month of the year.”

NCA refer to cash authority issued by the DBM to line agencies to cover the cash requirements of their programs and projects.

These are utilized when agencies issue checks or Advice to Debit Account (ADA) against their cash authority. NCA utilization also includes outstanding checks, or checks issued by the agency but not yet encashed at the bank by the creditors.

In terms of NCA utilization, cash disbursements amounted to P111.3 billion, while P15.6 billion were outstanding checks.

Diokno said the government will also put in place a catch-up plan to fasttrack the release and utilization of funds once the P3.757 trillion 2019 national budget gets signed by the President.

“As we anticipate the passage into law of the 2019 General Appropriations Act, the DBM is devising a catch-up plan in the release and utilization of funds. In coordination with implementing agencies, we will cover all bases from allotment releases, NCA releases, to NCA utilization and disbursement plans,” Diokno said.