Budget releases improve from January to October

MANILA, Philippines — The release of notices of cash allocation (NCAs) improved in the 10-month period following the record P5.02-trillion budget this year.

Latest data from the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) showed that NCA releases as of end-October increased by 6.3 percent to P3.56 trillion from P3.35 trillion in the same period last year.

This allowed the utilization rate for NCAs to improve to 94 percent from 91 percent from January to October 2021.

For October alone, budget releases were higher by 14 percent, at P450.82 billion from P395.13 billion in 2021.

Most agencies as of end-October already recorded above 90-percent utilization rate.

But only the Commission on Human Rights reported a 100-percent utilization rate.

As of end-October, nearly 70 percent of NCA releases were secured by line departments at P2.47 trillion. The remaining 30 percent or P1.09 trillion was allocated to government-owned and controlled corporations and local government units.

Of the total P3.56 trillion NCAs in end-October, the government utilized P3.36 trillion while P202.91 billion was unused during the period.

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.

A higher utilization ratio indicates greater capacity of agencies to implement their programs and projects.

As of end-October, DBM data showed that agencies that posted above 90 percent utilization of their NCAs include the Departments of Agrarian Reform, Education, Environment and Natural Resources,  Interior and Local Government, Justice, National Defense, Public Works and Highways, Science and Technology, Trade and Industry as well as Transportation.

Also included are the Office of the Vice President, the judiciary, Civil Service Commission, Commission on Audit, Office of the Ombudsman and state universities and colleges.

On the other hand, the Department of Information and Communications Technology recorded the lowest utilization rate at 67 percent as of end-October, followed by the Department of Labor and Employment with 69 percent.