The government’s expenditures for infrastructure and other capital outlays dropped 50.2 percent in November, amid implementation delays due to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)-related lockdown measures, the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) said.
Documents posted on the DBM website yesterday showed that infrastructure spending fell to P40.3 billion, P40.6 billion lower than the P80.9 billion spent in the same month the previous year..
“Infrastructure and other capital outlays were down… due to the various delays caused by the imposition of community quarantine measures to contain the further spread of the COVID-19 virus in early 2020, as well as the one-time expense in 2019 for the building constructions of the Land Transportation Office and the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board,” the DBM said.
Year-to-date, infrastructure spending also fell by 22 percent, to P548.8 billion from P703.8 billion recorded in the first 11 months of 2019.
“As expected, infrastructure and other capital outlays were lower year-on-year mainly due to the delays encountered in the implementation of public works during the imposition of COVID-19 community quarantine measures, and the discontinuance or deferment of some capital outlay projects which can no longer be implemented nor completed because of the pandemic pursuant to the Bayanihan I Law,” the DBM said.
Meanwhile, total disbursements for November 2020 amounted to P374.1 billion, 2.3 percent more than the P365.6 billion posted in the same month in 2019.
The growth was driven by higher maintenance spending, subsidy support to government corporations, equity and the combined allotment and capital transfers to local government units (LGUs).
The total national government disbursements as of end-November 2020 grew by 11.6 percent to reach P3.69 trillion.
The DBM said the strong performance for the period is credited largely to higher maintenance spending as a result of the implementation of COVID-19 measures; and allotment and capital transfers to LGUs from the one-time COVID-19 Bayanihan grant to the provinces, cities and municipalities; higher internal revenue allotment of LGUs; and the releases for the annual block gran
