The Department of Budget and Management (DBM) has released 96.7 percent of the government’s 2019 obligation budget as of end-October.
The DBM said in a statement yesterday P3.542 trillion of the P3.662-trillion obligation program for the year has been released as of October 31.
“The immediate release of funds will ensure that national government agencies are able to swiftly implement their programs and projects, such as the construction of new roads, schools, and hospitals, and the protection and promotion of the welfare of the poor and marginalized sectors, among others,” the DBM said.
Allotment releases to the line departments amounted to P2.027 trillion. These include funds allocated for agencies in the executive branch, Congress, the judiciary and other constitutional offices.
Releases from special purpose funds (SPFs) amounted to P337.424 billion.
SPFs are budgetary allocations in the General Appropriations Act (GAA) meant for specific socio-economic purposes such as budgetary support to government corporations, allocation to local government units (LGUs), contingent fund, miscellaneous personnel benefits fund, national disaster risk reduction and management fund, and pension and gratuity fund.
Allotment releases for automatic appropriations, or appropriations programmed annually or for some other period prescribed by law, increased to P1.075 trillion, the DBM said.
These include 100 percent of the 2019 program for the internal revenue allotment of LGUs, pension of ex-president/ex-president widows, net lending, interest payments, tax expenditures fund/customs duties and taxes, and retirement and life insurance premium (RLIP) requirements.
“Moreover, the P50.775 billion in payments for RLIP requirements released over the period is inclusive of P3.61 billion pertaining to additional requirements for newly-created or -filled positions in various agencies, resulting in a 107.7 percent release for the category,” the DBM said.
The DBM has also released P25.543 billion as of end-October from the continuing appropriations of the 2018 GAA for line departments and releases from SPFs.
Continuing appropriations refer to appropriations available to support obligations for a specified purpose or project, such as multi-year construction projects which require the incurrence of obligations beyond one fiscal year.
As for unprogrammed appropriations, P50.518 billion have been released. These are standby appropriations which authorize additional agency expenditures for priority programs and projects when revenue collections exceed the resource targets or when additional grants or foreign funds are generated.
Allotments for other automatic appropriations, amounting to P26.641 billion, have also been released.
