THE delay in the implementation of the 2019 General Appropriations Act (GAA), brought about by the three-month deadlock between the two chambers of Congress over the final version of the budget bill, has prevented the Duterte administration from spending P43.7 billion on its economic stimulus programs in the year’s first two months alone, the Department of Finance said.
This means that the government, despite its strong fiscal position partly as a result of tax reform, was not able to spend some P740.7 million per day over the January-February period, said DOF Assistant Secretary Antonio Lambino II, “representing idle funds that the Duterte administration could have otherwise spent on priority programs to sustain—and boost—the growth momentum and expand social protection initiatives for the poor.”
Although tax policy and administration reforms have led to higher collections by the Bureaus of Internal Revenue (BIR) and of Customs (BOC) since last year, Lambino said the government was not able to spend all of the programmed funds at the onset of 2019 because Malacañang had to operate on the 2018 reenacted budget. It will have to continue running the government on last year’s GAA until the 2019 budget plan is approved by President Duterte.
Data from the Bureau of the Treasury (BTR) furnished to Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III showed that actual cash expenditures totalled P490.7 billion over the January-February period, or P43.7 billion less than the estimated programmed funds of P534.4 billion for these first two months of the year—or equivalent to P740.7 million in available funds per day that the government was not able to invest in its priority programs and projects.
The national government could only spend P212.2 billion in January, as against the estimated programmed funds of P267.9 billion, or lower by P55.7 billion. In February, cash expenditures accelerated to P278.5 billion against the estimated programmed funds of P266.5 billion, higher by P12 billion. The net total for the first two months is a negative P43.7 billion relative to program. (PR)