THE Department of Budget and Management (DBM) said government spending year-on-year increased by P74.5 billion, or 6.1 percent to P1.296 trillion by August this year to address spending for high-impact infrastructure projects.
Budget Secretary Florencio B. Abad said almost all expenditure items increased from the same month in 2013, including the P6.6 billion or 3.9-percent rise in infrastructure disbursements.
He said the 5.4-percent growth in infrastructure spending by August this year and other capital outlay reached P176.2 billion in the first eight months of 2014 from last year’s P169.6 billion.
“Aside from the social services and education sectors, our socio-economic plan is dedicated to pouring investments towards infrastructure development. That’s why we’ve been continuously expanding our budget for infrastructure since we came in, with a set target of five per cent of the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by 2016,” said Abad in a news statement released on Monday.
He said that the total allotments released to implementing agencies reached P2.050 trillion or 91 per cent of the total obligation program for the year.
Government agencies with the highest allotment releases include the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) and the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) with 31.1 percent and 83.3 percent respectively mostly for various infrastructure development projects.