Budget Secretary Benjamin E. Diokno on Monday brushed aside budget underspending allegations thrown by some House members.
“The allegation by some congressmen that this administration is underspending is totally false,” he said. “There is absolutely no underspending to speak of. The government is ahead in its disbursements, [and] in fact, we are slightly overspending.”
The budget chief asserted that the government’s annual under-spending rate of 13.3 percent and 12.8 percent in 2014 and 2015, respectively, was cut to 3.6 percent in 2016 and 2.9 percent in 2017. Underspending refers to the difference of programmed disbursements from actual disbursements.
But for January to September this year, actual government disbursements exceeded the program by P62.6 billion, or 2.6 percent.
Diokno said it was through the implementation of budget reforms by the Duterte administration that underspending “was gradually eliminated.”
House Speaker and Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo earlier backed a resolution filed by House Minority Leader and Quezon Rep. Danilo E. Suarez seeking to summon Diokno to a question hour over the alleged massive underspending of the government amounting to P1.3 trillion.
Diokno said they have already front-loaded the projects and fasttracked the implementation and completion of programs, including those of the past administration.
The improved rate of spending indicates quicker delivery of programs in health, education, poverty reduction, and the faster implementation and completion of public infrastructure projects, he added.
Despite the slight overspending, the budget chief said, he expects government spending to normalize in the fourth quarter so as not to exceed the deficit target of 3 percent of the GDP.
The government cannot spend more than what Congress has authorized it to spend, Diokno said.
According to the Department of Budget and Management, Congress’s failure to approve the 2019 budget before year-end will also be a drag to efforts to improve budget utilization and eliminate underspending. This may also result to delay in the delivery of essential public services.
