Budget releases up, utilization steady as of end-May

MANILA, Philippines — The government increased its releases of cash allocations with state agencies, registering a steady utilization rate as of the end-May following the record P6.326-trillion budget this year.

Latest data from the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) showed that notices of cash allocation (NCAs) rose by 11.7 percent to P2.11 trillion from January to May compared to last year’s P1.89 trillion.

The utilization rate, however, remained at 94 percent, which was the same level as last year.

This means that of the total releases, P1.98 trillion was utilized and some P136.23 billion was unused as of end-May.

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.

Nearly 75 percent of NCA releases were secured by line departments at P1.58 trillion. The remaining P536.05 billion was directed to other agencies, especially state-run firms and local governments.

By sector, other agencies managed to use up 99 percent of the allocation for them to cover the internal revenue allotment, special shares and other transfers for LGUs.

Line departments, on the other hand, registered the same utilization rate of 92 percent or P1.45 trillion for the NCAs they received as of end-May.

By departments, the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) and the Department of Education (DepEd) still obtained the highest NCAs worth P417.9 billion and P312.12 billion, respectively, in the five-month period.

Data showed that DPWH slowed in its NCA utilization to 90 percent from 94 percent while DepEd retained its spending rate at 96 percent.

As of end-May, only the Office of the Vice President and the Commission on Audit recorded a 100-percent utilization rate.

Other agencies that recorded above 90 percent utilization rate as of May include the Departments of Finance, Foreign Affairs, Health, Interior and Local Government, Migrant Workers, National Defense, Science and Technology, Social Welfare and Development, Tourism and Trade and Industry.

Also included are the Office of the Ombudsman, Commission on Human Rights, as well as state universities and colleges.

On the other hand, the Department of Information and Communications Technology registered the worst utilization rate as of May at only 61 percent of its NCAs totaling P2.32 billion out of the P3.82 billion allocation.

The Congress of the Philippines came in second with a utilization rate of 68 percent at P11.44 billion out of the P16.76 billion, while the Department of Agriculture was next with 72 percent at P21.62 billion out of the P29.93 billion released.

Last year, the DBM released a record P4.9 trillion worth of NCAs, largely to finance infrastructure projects, as well as the education sector.