Govt infra spending falls by 11% in August

SPENDING on infrastructure and other capital outlays dropped in August due to lower disbursements by the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), data from the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) showed.

Amid directives to increase expenditures to support economic growth, the amount spent for infrastructure projects dropped to P108.6 billion, 11.1 percent lower than the year-earlier P122.1 billion.

The decline was mainly due to lower disbursements at the DPWH, which reported P22.0 billion in outstanding checks as of end-August 2024 — up from P17.0 billion a year ago. The checks represent payments for completed projects that contractors have not yet cashed.

Delays were also caused by the late submission of billing documents, bad weather having slowed projects and adjusted timelines for major infrastructure work.

Additionally, capital expenditures dropped compared to last year due to fewer large releases for the Department of Transportation’s (DoTr) foreign-assisted projects.

For the eight-month period, infrastructure and capital outlays spending rose by 14.2 percent to P845.3 billion from P740.3 billion in January-August 2023.

Overall government spending was PP440.5 billion in August, slightly down by 0.7 percent from P443.6 billion a year earlier.

Year to date, meanwhile, it was up 11.3 percent to P3.69 trillion compared to P3.31 trillion in the comparable 2023 period.

As of end-August, the program balance stood at P178.3 billion, or 3.1 percent of the P5.77-trillion annual obligation program.

In September 2024, P108.1 billion in allotments were issued, expected to boost spending for the rest of the year.

The DBM said that disbursements were expected to have recovered in September, likely increasing by at least 10 percent and surpassing the 8.1-percent growth recorded a year ago.

“This strong spending performance was likely driven by large capital expenditures in the DPWH, DoTr, DND (Department of National Defense) and social protection programs of the DSWD (Department of Social Welfare and Development) with the crediting of 4Ps (Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program) payouts, as well as the medical assistance programs of the DoH (Department of Health),” it said.