The government’s disbursements for infrastructure and other capital outlays rose 10.2 percent in the first quarter of 2024, according to the Department of Budget and Management (DBM).
A report posted on the DBM’s website showed that infrastructure spending went up to P216.8 billion from the P196.7 billion recorded a year ago.
Meanwhile, overall infrastructure disbursements, which include the infrastructure components of subsidy/equity to government corporations and transfers to local government units (LGUs), reached P266.3 billion, 9.3 percent higher year-on-year.
The DBM said the sturdy growth of the total infrastructure spending resulted mainly from the implementation of road infrastructure projects and defense modernization projects, alongside the higher local development fund of LGUs, equivalent to 20 percent of their national tax allotment shares.
“This helped sustain the robust expansion of public construction in the first quarter 2024 economic performance, where general government-led construction grew by 12.4 percent, contributing 2.9 percentage points to the 6.8 percent growth of the construction sector, and nearly 0.4 percentage points to the overall 5.7 percent real gross domestic product growth,” the DBM said.
In March alone, disbursements for infrastructure and other capital outlays rose by 15.1 percent to P96.3 billion, compared to the outturn in March 2023 of P83.7 billion.
According to the DBM, the sharp increase was largely due to the strong spending performance of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) for payment of progress billings for various road infrastructure programs, alongside payment of mobilization fees/advances to contractors for infrastructure projects under the 2024 budget.
“Similarly, capital outlay projects of the Department of National Defense under its Revised Armed Forces of the Philippines Modernization Program, as well as the direct payments for the foreign-assisted railway projects of the Department of Transportation, such as the Capacity Enhancement of Mass Transit Systems in Metro Manila and the Malolos-Clark Railway Project, contributed to the substantial infrastructure spending in March,” the DBM said.
The disbursements are foreseen to gradually increase in the current quarter as the DPWH and other agencies with capital outlay projects capitalize on the summer season for their construction activities, the DBM added.
