THE Department of Budget and Management (DBM) has released P3.622 trillion, or 98.9 percent of the P3.662-trillion obligation program as of end-November.
In a statement, the DBM said the immediate release of funds will facilitate swift implementation of programs and projects, such as the construction of new roads, schools, hospitals, and the protection and promotion of the welfare of the poor and marginalized sectors, among others.
Broken down, allotment releases to the line departments amounted to P2.056 trillion, while releases from Special Purpose Funds (SPFs) reached P369.04 billion.
Allotment releases to line departments included funds allocated for agencies in the Executive branch, Congress, the Judiciary and other Constitutional Offices.
On the other hand, SPFs are budgetary allocations in the General Appropriations Act (GAA) allocated for specific socioeconomic purposes, such as Budgetary Support to Government Corporations, Allocation to Local Government Units, Contingent Fund, Miscellaneous Personnel Benefits Fund, National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Fund, and Pension and Gratuity Fund.
Automatic appropriations, or appropriations programmed annually or for some other period prescribed by law, posted P1.076 trillion.
Those under allotment releases for automatic appropriations include 100 percent of the FY 2019 program for the Internal Revenue Allotment for Local Government Units (P575.520 billion), Pension of Ex-President/Ex-President Widows (P480,000), Special Account in the General Fund (P20.281 billion), Net Lending (P14.5 billion), Interest Payments (P399.571 billion), Tax Expenditures Fund/Customs Duties and Taxes (P14.5 billion), and Retirement and Life Insurance Premium (RLIP) requirements (P51.59 billion).
The payments for RLIP requirements released during the period are already inclusive of P4.43 billion pertaining to additional requirements for newly created or newly filled positions in various agencies, resulting in a 109.4-percent release for the category, the DBM said.
Other releases included continuing appropriations, unprogrammed appropriations and other automatic appropriations.
As of end-November, the Budget department said it has released P26.158 billion from the continuing appropriations of the 2018 GAA for line departments and releases from SPFs.
Continuing appropriations refer to appropriations available for support obligations for a specified purpose or project, such as multiyear construction projects requiring incurrence of obligations beyond one fiscal year.
As for unprogrammed appropriations, P64.812 billion has been released. Unprogrammed appropriations are standby appropriations which authorize additional agency expenditures for priority programs and projects when revenue collections exceed the resource targets, or when additional grants or foreign funds are generated.
Other allotments for automatic appropriations have reached P29.825 billion.