DBM urges agencies to ramp up disbursements, spending

The Department of Budget and Management is urging government agencies to further ramp up their budget disbursement and spending, after it recorded the utilization rate of government agencies at 90 percent from January to April 2023.

The latest data is reflected on the report on utilization of Notices of Cash Allocations (NCAs) for national government agencies and budgetary support to Government-Owned or -Controlled Corporations (GOCCs) and Local Government Units (LGUs) as of end April 2023, published on the DBM website.

The 90-percent utilization rate is equivalent to P1.175 trillion of NCAs utilized for the said period.

NCAs are cash authority documents issued by the DBM to the account of agencies/operating units through the authorized government servicing banks to cover the cash requirements of the agencies for their programs and projects.

“We all know that our national budget is the lifeblood of all government programs and projects. The faster we disburse and utilize our funds, the faster we can procure and implement our projects,” DBM Secretary Amenah F. Pangandaman said.

“That’s why we want to remind our agencies to avoid underspending, given our very limited fiscal space. Again, we need to instill discipline in our national government agencies or we shall put the money to agencies which can really implement them. We have to remember, as early as the start of the year, we have emphasized that only implementation-ready proposals will be included in the 2024 Budget,” Secretary Pangandaman added.

As of 30 April 2023, the DBM has released P2.982 trillion or 94.8 percent of total agency specific budget to various national government agencies. In sum, the DBM has released P4.518 trillion or 85.8 percent of the P5.268 trillion national budget as of 30 April 2023.