The Philippine government has reported a 96.9% budget utilization rate as of the end of June, lagging behind the year-earlier pace of 99%. The Department of Budget and Management (DBM) attributed this to the utilization of P2.65 trillion out of P2.74 trillion in allocations by the National Government, local governments, and government-owned companies.
The unused allocations amounted to P84.28 billion, according to the DBM's Notice of Cash Allocations (NCAs) Utilization Report. NCAs are quarterly disbursement authorities issued by the DBM to agencies, allowing them to withdraw funds from the Bureau of the Treasury for their spending needs.
Line departments used P1.75 trillion, or 95.4%, of their allocations at the end of June, leaving P84.16 billion unused. This represents a decrease from the year-earlier utilization rate of 99%.
Some government agencies have reported high utilization rates, including six departments that posted 100% utilization rates as of the end of June. These include the Office of the Vice-President, Department of Migrant Workers, the Judiciary, Commission on Elections, Office of the Ombudsman, and Commission on Human Rights.
Other agencies have reported high utilization rates, including the Commission on Audit, which used 99.9% of its allocations, and state universities and colleges, the Departments of Foreign Affairs, Health, Interior and Local Government, and National Defense, each of which posted 99.8% utilization rates.
The Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development recorded a utilization rate of 99.7%, followed by the Departments of Environment and Natural Resources and Tourism at 99.5% each.
The Office of the President had used 64.1% of its P9.12-billion allocation as of end-June, while other agencies towards the bottom of the table included the Civil Service Commission (74.7%), Presidential Communications Office (78.2%), the DBM (83.6%), the Department of Transportation (85.5%), and the Department of Public Works and Highways (87.1%).
Budgetary support for government-owned and -controlled corporations was fully utilized by the end of June, and allocations to local government units were also fully utilized. The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority used 99.9% of its NCAs.
