ABAD: Infra spending will boost Q1 GDP

DPWH Obligates 44% of P479-B allotment before election ban

Higher government spending on infrastructure will boost GDP growth in the first quarter, according to Budget Secretary Florencio B. Abad.

“We should have good first quarter growth bolstered by the high obligation rate of the DPWH and by election spending,” Abad said.

The Department of Budget and Management (DBM) reported today that the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) has obligated 44 percent or P211-billion of its P479-billion allotment, an increase of 12 percent from the 32-percent obligation rate over the same period last year.

The DPWH has also utilized 98 percent of its cash allocation in the first quarter of 2016, resulting in disbursements of P55 billion.

“We laud DPWH’s successful efforts to ensure the continuity of their projects before the election ban took effect. These promising figures for obligations and NCA utilization rates suggest that public construction will continue to drive growth upwards in the first quarter of 2016 as it did last year,” the Secretary added.

“I also want to emphasize that the P205 billion—or 65 percent of the total allotment—was obligated for regional projects before the start of the election ban. This means that DPWH will continue to improve local infrastructure uninterrupted throughout the year,” the Secretary added.

National Government allotment releases

In total, 91.8 percent or P1.49 trillion of the P1.62-trillion total budget for agencies were released in the first quarter of the year, bringing total releases to 82.3 percent of the P3.002-trillion National Budget for 2016. This represents a 0.7-percent increase over allotment releases over the same period last year.

“In the coming months, the 82.3-percent figure for total allotment releases over program should increase, as DBM releases NDRRMF funds for calamities or issue special shares to LGUs from national taxes, for example,” the Secretary said.