Although infrastructure spending has picked up considerably, Budget Secretary Benjamin E. Diokno is still concerned that agencies are not performing up to par when it comes to the implementation of the administration’s “Build, Build, Build” (BBB) program.
Diokno said he is not happy with the progress of the government’s massive infrastructure upgrade program, calling on concerned agencies to further improve the “utilization of funds and the delivery and completion of programs and projects.”
Infrastructure spending in January hit P43.3 billion, surging 25.2 percent year-on-year, although this was mainly on account of completed projects of the Department of
Public Works and Highways, the disaster-mitigation and lahar-control works in Central Luzon, and the purchase of communication equipment as part of the Department of National Defense-Armed Forces of the Philippines modernization program.
“I am not happy with that. There’s going to be a lot of catching up [to do],” Diokno said, noting the need to pick up the pace of infrastructure spending in the remaining eight months of the year.
“It [BBB program] is not going to be finished by one year so, as long as we are addressing the right of way, the infrastructure, we have to identify the contractors, then it’s easier to do this catch-up plan,” he added.
Overall spending, however, was a different story, as in February alone, the government spent P240.3 billion, up 37 percent, data from the Cash Operations Report of the Bureau of Treasury showed.
“The fiscal program of the national government is on track, backed by the strong performance of both government spending and revenue collection,” Diokno said. “The Development Budget Coordination Committee will continue to monitor relevant indicators on the country’s finances to ensure that we hit our financial and development targets.”
Productive spending for the said month amounted to P204.1 billion, while interest payments reached P36.2 billion. Net of interest payments, productive spending soared by 35 percent in February.
The deficit from January to February widened by 140 percent to P51.5 billion after the small surplus posted in the first month of the year was negated by the P61.7-billion deficit in February.
The annual deficit target for 2018 is P523.7 billion, equivalent to 3 percent of GDP.
Total revenues for the first two months of the year amounted to P417.4 billion, higher by P65.3 billion, or 19 percent, compared to the same period last year.
Total revenues also reached P178.5 billion in February, up by 18 percent year-on-year, with tax revenues amounting to P163.2 billion and nontax revenues reaching P15.3 billion.
Tax revenues got a significant boost from the implementation of the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion law and the improved collection of the Bureau of Customs.
“We are off to a good start for Fiscal Year 2018, and we are optimistic that we will cut down underspending even further from the 2.4 percent recorded last year, which is net of interest payments,” Diokno said.
“We have instructed the line agencies to implement the 2018 National Budget as if it were a cash-based budget. This is why we expect further improvement in the utilization of funds and the delivery and completion of programs and projects.”
For 2018 disbursements are targeted to reach P3.313 trillion, while revenues are targeted to increase to P2.789 trillion.
Image credits: Nonie Reyes