Govt.’s infra spending in April rose by 9.7% photo Business Mirror
Economy

Govt.’s infra spending in April rose by 9.7%

Jun 21, 2022, 11:29 AM
Rose De La Cruz

Rose De La Cruz

Writer/Columnist

The government spent P63.8 billion for infrastructure in May 2022 or up by 9.7 percent.

The government’s infrastructure spending in May 2022 climbed by 9.7 percent to P63.8 billion with the easing of mobility restrictions from Covid-19.

Latest data from the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) showed the government’s disbursements for infrastructure and other capital outlays during the month were higher by P5.7 billion than the P58.2 billion recorded in April last year, Business Mirror reported.

The DBM said the implementation of infrastructure programs of the Department of Public Works and Highways amid lower Covid-19 Alert Level Systems contributed to the higher infrastructure expenditures for the month.

The increase in government spending for infrastructure and other capital outlays was also largely attributed to the settlement of accounts payables of the Department of Agriculture for the procurement of farm equipment and pieces of machinery under the Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund and the Department of Education for its Basic Education Facilities.

As of end-April this year, the government’s disbursements on infrastructure and other capital outlays also inched up by 0.3 percent to P254.1 billion from P253.4 billion in the same period last year.

Meanwhile, infrastructure disbursements as of end-April climbed by 3.3 percent year-on-year to P331.9 billion from P321.2 billion.

Apart from infrastructure disbursements, this figure also included subsidy and equity to government-owned and -controlled corporations, and transfers to local government units intended for infrastructure.

The DBM said it expects a “very minimal increase or a slightly lower year-on-year growth” in disbursements in May this year mainly because of the impact of the election ban and the timing of subsidy releases.

Other expenditure items will continue to post positive growth rates, such as those on personnel services due to the release of mid-year bonus of government employees, transfers to LGU due to higher National Tax Allotment, and Maintenance and Other Operating Expenses on the back of expenditures of the Commission on Elections for the conduct of the national and local elections, the DBM said.

The Cabinet-level Development Budget Coordination Committee programmed almost P1.2 trillion for the government’s infrastructure disbursements this year. This was higher by around 7 percent than last year’s actual infrastructure program of P1.12 trillion.

The Estrella-Pantaleon Bridge, aka Rockwell Bridge connecting the cities of Makati and Mandaluyong, measuring 506-meters has a 3-meter- wide sidewalk, is among the P3.39-billion infrastructure projects in the country which are funded by China.

Tags: #DBM, #infraspending, #infrastructure


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