The cash utilization of government agencies in the first quarter of 2021 was at 97 percent, data released by the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) showed.
According to the status of notice of cash allocation (NCA) utilization posted on the DBM website, the utilization rate in the first quarter was slower than the 99 percent posted in the same period last year.
The NCA utilization rate in the first three months of the year corresponds to P788.85 billion out of P810.68 billion in NCAs released for the period.
As of the first quarter, the unutilized NCAs totaled to P21.84 billion.
In the same period in 2020, the NCAs utilized was P641.15 billion, versus the P650.81 billion releases.
NCA refers to the disbursement authority issued by the DBM to cover the cash requirements of the operations, programs and projects of government agencies.
A higher NCA utilization rate demonstrates the capacity of line agencies to quickly disburse their allocated funds and implement their programs and projects.
Line departments utilized P522.72 billion of the P536.24 billion in NCAs released to them from January to March this year, equivalent to a 97 percent year-to-date NCA utilization rate.
As for NCA released for budgetary support to government-owned and -controlled corporations, 89 percent was utilized.
The NCA released for allotment to local government units was fully utilized. – Angela Celis
