MANILA, Sep. 14 — The Department of Budget and Management (DBM) has announced that 95.5 percent of allotments have already been made available to departments and agencies as of August 31, in line with the Aquino administration’s goal to speed up government spending this year.
To date, this figure brings fund releases to a total of P2.321 trillion, which represents 89.1 percent of the original P2.606 trillion 2015 General Appropriations Act (GAA).
“By the end of August, we’ve been able to release nearly all agency allotments and the majority of the 2015 budget. Most of the work was done at the very beginning of the year, thanks to the GAA-as-Release-Document regime. Allotments that were tagged for later release were also made available to agencies that had complied with their fund release requirements,” Budget Secretary Florencio ‘Butch’ Abad said.
While releases made by August 2014 represented a slightly higher percentage of that year’s GAA, the significant increase in this year’s National Budget means that P300.6 billion more in allotment releases have been made in the last eight months, compared to the same period in 2014.
“A large portion of the remaining balance in this year’s budget includes the P180 billion in Special Purpose Funds, which have yet to be released,” Abad said.
He added that these funds, such as the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Fund, are not released until contingencies arise and the appropriate release requirements are met.
“What’s important to consider is the recent news that disbursements have accelerated significantly, and that public spending was instrumental to our GDP growth in the second quarter. This gives us a good measure of confidence in our spending performance for the rest of the year. We now look to our agencies to sustain the improvements they’ve so far made, and to continue optimizing their budgets to help support the country’s growth,” he added. (DBM)
Below are the details of the allotment releases:
