GOVPH

Review of the Macroeconomic Assumptions and Fiscal Program for the 2021 President’s Budget December 11, 2019 We, the members of the Development Budget Coordination Committee (DBCC), held a meeting to revisit the macroeconomic assumptions and medium-term fiscal and growth targets of the government. This is in light of recent developments, both domestic and external, as well as in preparation for the proposed 2021 National Expenditure Program (NEP). Macroeconomic Assumptions The average inflation rate for 2019 is projected to settle at 2.4 percent, indicating relatively stable prices for Filipino consumers, while the assumed average rates for 2020 to 2022 will remain between 2.0 to 4.0 percent throughout.   In addition, the assumption for the USD price of Dubai crude oil per barrel has been adjusted downwards in the medium-term. For 2019, the projected range has been narrowed to the range of USD63.00 to USD64.00 per barrel. From 2020 to 2022, the price range is now projected to average between USD55.00 to USD70.00 per barrel.   Furthermore, the PhP-USD exchange rate assumption is revised downward to the range of PhP51.00 to PhP52.00 against the USD in 2019 and from PhP51.00 to PhP54.00...

The Notice of Cash Allocation (NCA) utilization rate of the national government was at 93 percent from January to October 2019, corresponding to Php2.448 trillion out of Php2.638 trillion in NCAs released for the period, data from the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) showed.   Line departments utilized Php1.772 trillion of the Php1.956 trillion in NCAs released to them from January to October this year, equivalent to a 91 percent year-to-date NCA utilization rate.    As for NCA released for Budgetary Support to Government-Owned and -Controlled Corporations, 97 percent was utilized.  Meanwhile, NCA released for Allotment to Local Government Units was fully utilized.    This latest NCA utilization rate is a marked improvement over the 81 percent rate registered as of end-October last year. From January to October 2019, the DBM released Php2.877 trillion in NCAs to national government agencies, of which only Php2.338 trillion was utilized.   NCA refers to the disbursement authority issued by the DBM to cover the cash requirements of the operations, programs and projects of government agencies. A higher NCA utilization rate demonstrates the capacity of line agencies to quickly disburse...

The Department of Budget and Management (DBM) has released Php3.542 trillion, or 96.7 percent of the PhP3.662 trillion Fiscal Year (FY) 2019 obligation program as of October 31. Allotment releases to the line departments amounted to PhP2.027 trillion. These include funds allocated for agencies in the Executive branch, Congress, the Judiciary, and other constitutional offices. Releases from Special Purpose Funds (SPFs) amounted to PhP337.424 billion. Special Purpose Funds (SPFs) are budgetary allocations in the GAA allocated for specific socio-economic purposes such as Budgetary Support to Government Corporations, Allocation to Local Government Units, Contingent Fund, Miscellaneous Personnel Benefits Fund, National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Fund, and Pension and Gratuity Fund. Allotment releases for automatic appropriations, or appropriations programmed annually or for some other period prescribed by law, increased to PhP1.075 trillion. These include 100 percent of the FY 2019 program for the Internal Revenue Allotment of local government units, Pension of Ex-President/Ex-President Widows, Net Lending, Interest Payments, Tax Expenditures Fund/Customs Duties and Taxes,...

National government disbursements accelerated sharply this September, growing by a hefty rate of 39 percent, the fastest rate registered this year, data from the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) showed.   Government spending reached a total of PhP415.1 billion this September, up by PhP116.5 billion from last year’s level of PhP298.6 billion.   The growth of government disbursements this September was mainly driven by an upsurge in disbursements in Capital Outlays (CO), particularly in Infrastructure/Other CO spending, indicating that the government has broken through the effects of the delayed passage of the FY 2019 national budget and the election ban on infrastructure spending which weighed down on economic growth during the first half of the fiscal year.   Infrastructure/Other CO spending reached PhP100.3 billion this September, corresponding to a growth rate of 53.9 percent (or an increase of PhP35.1 billion) from last year’s level of PhP65.2 billion. This growth, also the fastest this year for the category, is attributed to the full and partial completion of projects of the Department of Public Works and Highways, such as the construction, upgrading, repair, and...

The Notice of Cash Allocation (NCA) utilization rate of the national government was at 97 percent from January to September 2019, corresponding to PhP2.202 trillion out of PhP2.261 trillion in NCAs released for the period, data from the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) showed. While the year-to-date NCA utilization rate as of end-September this year is similar to last year’s rate of 97 percent, both total NCAs utilized by the government and total NCAs released by the DBM were higher this year than last year by PhP119.313 billion and PhP112.190 billion, respectively. From January to September 2018, PhP2.083 trillion out of PhP2.149 trillion in NCAs was utilized by national government agencies. Line departments utilized PhP1.587 trillion of the PhP1.646 trillion in NCAs released to them from January to September this year, equivalent to a 96 percent year-to-date NCA utilization rate. NCA refers to the disbursement authority issued by the DBM to cover the cash requirements of the operations, programs, and projects of government agencies. A higher NCA utilization rate demonstrates the capacity of line agencies to timely disburse their allocated funds and implement their...

The Department of Budget and Management (DBM) has released Php3.491 trillion, or 95.3 percent of the PhP3.662 trillion Fiscal Year (FY) 2019 obligation program as of September 30.   Allotment releases to the line departments amounted to PhP2.011 trillion. These include funds allocated for agencies in the Executive branch, Congress, the Judiciary, and other constitutional offices.   Releases from Special Purpose Funds (SPFs) amounted to PhP317.882 billion. Special Purpose Funds (SPFs) are budgetary allocations in the GAA allocated for specific socio-economic purposes such as Budgetary Support to Government Corporations, Allocation to Local Government Units, Contingent Fund, Miscellaneous Personnel Benefits Fund, National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Fund, and Pension and Gratuity Fund.   Allotment releases for automatic appropriations, or appropriations programmed annually or for some other period prescribed by law, increased to PhP1.070 trillion, corresponding to 99.9 percent of the FY 2019 program for automatic appropriations. These include 100 percent of the FY 2019 program for the Internal Revenue Allotment of local government units, Pension of Ex-President/Ex-President...

As the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) has been receiving numerous inquiries regarding the release of funds for pension differentials of retired military and uniformed personnel (MUP), it is issuing this statement to provide clarification to all parties concerned. It may be recalled that the Senate and the House of Representatives issued Congress Joint Resolution (JR) No. 1, s. 2018, increasing the base pay of all MUP, on January 1, 2018. Under the current system, the MUP pension requirements are automatically indexed to the current base pay scheme for MUP in active service, pursuant to Presidential Decree No. 1638, Republic Act (RA) No. 5976, RA No. 8551, and RA No. 9263. In this regard, the DBM is pleased to announce that it has already released around PhP22.3 billion to the Department of National Defense, the Department of the Interior and Local Government, the National Mapping and Resource Information Authority, and the Philippine Coast Guard to cover the pension differential of MUP retirees for the period of June to December 2019. Meanwhile, the pension differential for the period of January to May 2019 will be acted upon separately, subject to the availability of...