STATE infrastructure spending as of end-July climbed by 42.6 percent year-on-year as more projects were implemented.
Latest data from the Department of Budget and Management showed the government disbursed P499.4 billion on infrastructure and other capital outlays from January to July, higher than P350.3 billion in the same period a year ago.
This was the main growth driver of overall government spending as of end-July this year which amounted to P2.58 trillion, up by 8.2 percent from P2.39 trillion last year.
The DBM attributed the uptick in infrastructure spending during the seven-month period to the implementation of projects by the Department of Public Works and Highways and other agencies.
Other expense items which boosted the growth in government spending are equity with the release of capital infusion under Bayanihan II, transfers to local government units, personnel services, interest payments, and tax expenditure subsidy.
For the month of July alone, infrastructure spending rose by 39.1 percent to P72.8 billion this year from P52.3 billion a year ago.
Among the infrastructure projects implemented during the period were the construction, repair, and rehabilitation of access, by-pass, and diversion roads, bridges, flood mitigation structures, and drainage systems, construction of multipurpose buildings, and payment for right-of-way.
Also contributing to the rise in infrastructure spending are disbursements for projects under the Revised Armed Forces of the Philippines Modernization Program of the Department of National Defense and accounts payable of the Philippine National Police for the delivery of information and communications technology equipment and other supplies.
Apart from state infrastructure spending, expenditures on personnel services also buoyed overall state spending for July.
Total government spending for the month reached P377.3 billion, inching up by 0.7 percent from P374.7 billion.
For this year, the government has programmed to increase its spending for infrastructure to P1.019 trillion, equivalent to 5.1 percent of the country’s GDP.
Last year, it spent P869.5 billion on infrastructure, or 4.8 percent of the country’s GDP.
The Cabinet-level Development Budget Coordination Committee also further raised the infrastructure program to P1.29 trillion in 2022. It will then slightly taper off to P1.28 trillion in 2023 following the updated projections for the National Tax Allotment and the block grant to the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao before reaching P1.35 trillion in 2024.
Image courtesy of Nonoy Lacza
Read full article on BusinessMirror
