Budget Secretary Florencio B. Abad on Wednesday said government spending increased by P21.5 billion for the first quarter this year to P504 billion.
He said the highest spending was in March this year, which reached P188.5 billion, an 11.2-percent increase year- on-year. Abad added that budget spending in February grew by 9.6 percent.
“Our spending levels from January to March show a very clear trend toward faster government spending. [At] first glance, spending in the first quarter may seem unremarkable, but the fact that it accelerated sharply by March gives us good reason to be optimistic. The second quarter of the year should continue this trend, especially since we’re still working with agencies on improving their spending,” Abad said in a news statement.
The budget chief added that the surge in disbursements by the end of the first quarter was driven by quicker spending in maintenance and other operating expenditures and capital outlay in key spending agencies. These include the departments of Education, the Interior and Local Government, and the Social Welfare and Development, and the Office of the President.
“When our agencies spend more efficiently on their operations and capital outlay, we can expect faster project implementation. Faster spending also means that the public will benefit, because government services are getting to them at a better pace,” Abad said.
Reforms in the procurement systems in the agencies are also expected to boost government spending within the year.
“The numbers tell us that we’re on the right track. Our major concern is to clear as many spending bottlenecks as possible, especially when it comes to agency procurement. We saw that projects often got stuck in the procurement stage, so we’re resolving that with the cooperation of major agencies,” Abad said.
“There’s still room for departments and agencies to improve. More than ever, it’s critical for funds to move faster if we want to support service delivery and greater economic growth,” he said.