Government spending up 14.6%, says DBM
MANILA, Philippines (Updated 12:30 p.m.) — Government spending has improved its spending for 2024 following a year marked by underspending.
In the last quarter of 2023, data from the Philippine Statistics Authority showed that the Government Final Consumption Expenditure had a rate of 1.8%. President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. had to order agencies to utilize their budgets more.
DBM Principal Economist Joselito Basilio said the numbers are still preliminary but improved.
“So far, ang disbursements ng national government sa pagkatapos ng June ay kumapit sa P2.763 billion. That is 14.6% higher than the previous year,” Basilio said at a press briefing on Monday.
(So far, the disbursements of the national government by the end of June reached P2.763 billion. That is 14.6% higher than the previous year.)
The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) is the number one spender with its infrastructure outlay projects, while the Department of National Defense followed suit with its modernization projects.
The Department of Social Welfare and Development, once among the agencies with the lowest obligation rates in 2023, is now among the top spenders with an improved system of distributing aid and pension.
What they will spend on
The 2025 National Expenditure Program is the proposed version of the national budget that has yet to go through Congress’ probing and approval. An administration’s proposed budget reveals its priorities, so what are the Marcos administration’s prime concerns?
The DBM listed the following priority sectors for the budget:
- Education - P977.6 billion
- Public Works - P900 billion
- Health - P297.6 billion
- Interior and Local Government - P278.4 billion
- Defense - P256.1 billion
- Social Welfare - P230.1 billion
- Agriculture - P211.3 billion
- Transportation - P180.9 billion
- Judiciary - P63.6 billion
Education typically gets the lion's share of the budget. This year's budget is an increase from the 2024 General Appropriations Act, which was P968.9 billion.
The proposed budget for education was prepared and submitted to the DBM under Vice President Sara Duterte before she resigned as DepEd secretary on June 19. Her successor, Sonny Angara, was named the new DepEd chief on the same day that President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. signed the proposed spending plan for 2025.
Top spender DPWH again takes a significant portion of the budget pie. For flood control, the DBM allotted P305.1 billion for flood mitigation projects this year. This comes after lawmakers in the Senate questioned the implementation of flood control projects after widespread flooding caused by Super Typhoon Carina and the southwest monsoon.
With the Philippines’ infamous for its bad traffic, the budget for transportation will be largely devoted to railway systems.
“Bulk of it, P63.9 billion will go to North-South commuter railway system. And then another P39 billion for Metro Manila Subway project,” Budget Secretary Amena Pangandaman said.
Net domestic borrowings for the proposed budget would be P903.4 billion, and net financing is P1.4 trillion, according to the DBM. The expenditure program has a debt to gross domestic product ratio of 5.3%. — with a report from Cristina Chi
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