BUTUAN CITY -- The House Committee on Appropriations probed into the decrease in public spending despite the increase in the National Budget during the Development Budget Coordination Committee (DBCC) Briefing to Congress on the FY 2024 National Expenditure Program (NEP) on August 10, 2023.
Bulacan 6th District Representative Salvador A. Pleyto asked the DBCC about the utilization rate of the National Government Agencies (NGAs). Department of Budget and Management (DBM) Secretary Amenah F. Pangandaman revealed that as of March 31, 2023, the average obligation rate of the NGAs is only 30.5 percent of the Php 3.40 trillion released by the DBM to agencies.
Meanwhile, the DBM has already released P4.73 trillion or about 90.0 percent of the FY 2023 National Budget by June 2023. This leaves a balance of P533.27 which will be released in the upcoming months to support the priority programs and projects of government agencies, subject to budgeting rules and regulations.
Among the NGAs with the highest obligation rates are the Department of Foreign Affairs (54.2%), the Department of Finance (49.7%), and the Department of Public Works and Highways (49.6%). On the other hand, those with the lowest obligation rates are the Department of Information and Communications Technology (5.6%), the Department of Migrant Workers (10.0%), and the Department of Energy (10.5%).
The Budget Chief shared with Congress that the DBM, in fact, has already initiated efforts to ensure the proper and timely utilization of their respective allocated budget, ordering government agencies to submit a report on the status of their projects, identify bottlenecks, and submit a “catch-up plan.”
“We requested all the agencies to submit their catch-up plans not later than September 15, 2023,” Secretary Pangandaman said.
DBM issued Circular Letter No. 2023-10 requiring agencies to submit “catch-up plans” to facilitate budget execution for the rest of FY 2023. This is in addition to the regular Agency Performance Review and monitoring/evaluation of budget status per agencies’ submission of budget accountability reports under the Unified Reporting System (URS).
Departments and agencies may still utilize their allocation under the FY 2023 General Appropriations Act (GAA) until December 31, 2024, except for personnel services which may only be obligated and disbursed until December 31, 2023.
Read the full FY 2023 Statement of Appropriations, Allotments, Obligations, Disbursements, and Balances as of March 31, 2023:
https://www.dbm.gov.ph/wp- content/uploads/e-Fund_ Releases/SAOB2023/1stQuarter/ August8/00.%20SUMMARY.pdf
(DBM/PIA-Caraga)
