GOVPH

MANILA, Philippines - President Rodrigo Roa Duterte today signed into law the Fiscal Year (FY) 2020 General Appropriations Act (GAA), which appropriates PhP4.1 trillion for the operations of the national government. Carrying the theme “Continuing the journey to a more peaceful and progressive Philippines”, the FY 2020 national budget will build upon the gains made over the first three and a half years of President Duterte’s Administration by continuing the thrust for genuine change, inclusive growth, and equitable development to build a better Philippines. The PhP4.1 trillion budget, which is equivalent to 19.5 percent of projected gross domestic product, is the country’s largest to date, larger by 12 percent than the 2019 budget. It will sustain the critical infrastructure, human capital development, and peace and order initiatives of the Administration to support socio-economic growth. Both chambers of Congress sustained the budgetary priorities of the President when they passed the 2020 national budget last December as shown by the sectoral breakdown of the budget. The social services sector accounts for the largest bulk of the budget at PhP1.495 trillion, or 36.5 percent of the...

National government disbursements rose by 1.4 percent this October on the back of higher Current Operating Expenditures on Personal Services (PS), subsidies to government-owned and -controlled corporations (GOCCs), and transfers to local government units (LGUs), data from the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) showed.   More particularly, government spending reached a total of Php310.8 billion in October 2019, up by Php4.2 billion from October 2018 level of Php306.6 billion.    PS expenditures grew by 6.9 percent to Php83.4 billion this October from Php78 billion last year, largely due to the fourth tranche implementation of the salary increase for civilian personnel, the second year of implementation of the base pay increase of military and uniformed personnel (MUP), and higher pension requirements of MUP due to the pension indexation to the current MUP base pay.    Meanwhile, subsidies to GOCCs increased to Php7.2 billion this October from Php1.6 billion last year, corresponding to a 366.7 percent increase. This growth was spurred by large releases to the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation for payments of the health premiums of indigent patients under the National Health...

The Department of Budget and Management (DBM) has released Php3.622 trillion, or 98.9 percent of the PhP3.662 trillion Fiscal Year (FY) 2019 obligation program as of November 30.   Allotment releases to the line departments amounted to PhP2.056 trillion. These include funds allocated for agencies in the Executive branch, Congress, the Judiciary, and other constitutional offices.   Releases from Special Purpose Funds (SPFs) amounted to PhP369.04 billion. SPFs are budgetary allocations in the GAA allocated for specific socio-economic 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.   Allotment releases for automatic appropriations, or appropriations programmed annually or for some other period prescribed by law, inched up to PhP1.076 trillion. These include 100 percent of the FY 2019 program for the Internal Revenue Allotment of local government units, Pension of Ex-President/Ex-President Widows, Special Account in the General Fund, Net Lending, Interest Payments, Tax Expenditures Fund/Customs...

Review of the Macroeconomic Assumptions and Fiscal Program for the 2021 President’s Budget December 11, 2019 We, the members of the Development Budget Coordination Committee (DBCC), held a meeting to revisit the macroeconomic assumptions and medium-term fiscal and growth targets of the government. This is in light of recent developments, both domestic and external, as well as in preparation for the proposed 2021 National Expenditure Program (NEP). Macroeconomic Assumptions The average inflation rate for 2019 is projected to settle at 2.4 percent, indicating relatively stable prices for Filipino consumers, while the assumed average rates for 2020 to 2022 will remain between 2.0 to 4.0 percent throughout.   In addition, the assumption for the USD price of Dubai crude oil per barrel has been adjusted downwards in the medium-term. For 2019, the projected range has been narrowed to the range of USD63.00 to USD64.00 per barrel. From 2020 to 2022, the price range is now projected to average between USD55.00 to USD70.00 per barrel.   Furthermore, the PhP-USD exchange rate assumption is revised downward to the range of PhP51.00 to PhP52.00 against the USD in 2019 and from PhP51.00 to PhP54.00...

The Notice of Cash Allocation (NCA) utilization rate of the national government was at 93 percent from January to October 2019, corresponding to Php2.448 trillion out of Php2.638 trillion in NCAs released for the period, data from the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) showed.   Line departments utilized Php1.772 trillion of the Php1.956 trillion in NCAs released to them from January to October this year, equivalent to a 91 percent year-to-date NCA utilization rate.    As for NCA released for Budgetary Support to Government-Owned and -Controlled Corporations, 97 percent was utilized.  Meanwhile, NCA released for Allotment to Local Government Units was fully utilized.    This latest NCA utilization rate is a marked improvement over the 81 percent rate registered as of end-October last year. From January to October 2019, the DBM released Php2.877 trillion in NCAs to national government agencies, of which only Php2.338 trillion was utilized.   NCA refers to the disbursement authority issued by the DBM to cover the cash requirements of the operations, programs and projects of government agencies. A higher NCA utilization rate demonstrates the capacity of line agencies to quickly disburse...

The Department of Budget and Management (DBM) has released Php3.542 trillion, or 96.7 percent of the PhP3.662 trillion Fiscal Year (FY) 2019 obligation program as of October 31. Allotment releases to the line departments amounted to PhP2.027 trillion. These include funds allocated for agencies in the Executive branch, Congress, the Judiciary, and other constitutional offices. Releases from Special Purpose Funds (SPFs) amounted to PhP337.424 billion. Special Purpose Funds (SPFs) are budgetary allocations in the GAA allocated for specific socio-economic 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. Allotment releases for automatic appropriations, or appropriations programmed annually or for some other period prescribed by law, increased to PhP1.075 trillion. These include 100 percent of the FY 2019 program for the Internal Revenue Allotment of local government units, Pension of Ex-President/Ex-President Widows, Net Lending, Interest Payments, Tax Expenditures Fund/Customs Duties and Taxes,...

National government disbursements accelerated sharply this September, growing by a hefty rate of 39 percent, the fastest rate registered this year, data from the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) showed.   Government spending reached a total of PhP415.1 billion this September, up by PhP116.5 billion from last year’s level of PhP298.6 billion.   The growth of government disbursements this September was mainly driven by an upsurge in disbursements in Capital Outlays (CO), particularly in Infrastructure/Other CO spending, indicating that the government has broken through the effects of the delayed passage of the FY 2019 national budget and the election ban on infrastructure spending which weighed down on economic growth during the first half of the fiscal year.   Infrastructure/Other CO spending reached PhP100.3 billion this September, corresponding to a growth rate of 53.9 percent (or an increase of PhP35.1 billion) from last year’s level of PhP65.2 billion. This growth, also the fastest this year for the category, is attributed to the full and partial completion of projects of the Department of Public Works and Highways, such as the construction, upgrading, repair, and...