The Department of Budget and Management has released P679.27 Billion as of June 30, 2021 to various implementing agencies to support projects, activities, and programs intended to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic. Of this, P600.66 Billion has been obligated and about P550.53 Billion has been disbursed based on Financial Accountability Reports submitted by the corresponding agencies and departments. This is equivalent to an 88.4 percent obligation rate and 91.7 percent disbursement rate, respectively.
Allotment releases to support Republic Act No. 11494 or the Bayanihan to Recover as One Act (or Bayanihan 2) amount to P214.12 Billion, wherein P200.25 Billion was obligated and P189.86 Billion was disbursed. This leaves a balance of P13.88 Billion, of which, only P5.97 Billion (or less than one percent of the total allotment releases) was reverted to the General Fund in view of the expiration of the Special Appropriations and FY 2019 Continuing Appropriations under the same law last June 30, 2021.
Further, out of the P387.93 Billion allotment released pursuant to Republic Act No. 11469 or the Bayanihan to Heal as One Act (Bayanihan 1), P369.08 Billion has been obligated and P357.85... 
The Development Budget Coordination Committee (DBCC) revisited the country’s macroeconomic assumptions, growth targets, and fiscal program for FYs 2021 to 2024, in preparation for the President’s submission of the proposed FY 2022 National Budget to the Congress.
Real Growth Projections
Amid the declining number of COVID-19 cases in the country since the peak in April 2021 and the gradual reopening of the economy with more targeted granular lockdowns, the DBCC reaffirmed the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth target of 6.0 to 7.0 percent in 2021, 7.0 to 9.0 percent in 2022, and 6.0 to 7.0 percent in 2023 and 2024.
To support this outlook, the DBCC emphasized its support to manage risks and continue the gradual and safe reopening of the economy, subject to the strictest compliance to minimum public health standards. The intensified implementation of the prevent, detect, isolate, treat, and recover (PDITR) strategy, along with the full vaccination of residents in high-risk areas, will help build consumer and business confidence, and improve our health system capacity and prevent community transmissions of the Delta variant.
The relaxation of quarantine restrictions in high-risk...
Acting on the request received from the Department of Health (DOH) last June 23, 2021, the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) has released the Special Allotment Release Order (SARO) and the Notice of Cash Allocation (NCA) amounting to P9.02-billion to the DOH to cover the payment of the Special Risk Allowances (SRA) of public and private health workers.
The said funds covers the payment of the SRA not exceeding P5,000.00 per month from December 20, 2020 to June 30, 2021, pursuant to Administrative Order No. 42, s. 2021, dated June 01, 2021, as implemented thru DBM-DOH Joint Circular No.1 dated June 16, 2021.
With the funds now made available to the DOH, qualified public and private health workers can expect the payment of the SRA not later than June 30, 2021.
The DBM is committed to fulfill its mandate of promoting the efficient and effective management of the national budget to support its budget priorities while also ensuring that the needs of the Filipino people are met, especially of healthcare workers in this time of pandemic.
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The Department of Budget and Management (DBM) welcomes the decision of the Office of the President (OP) to upgrade the salary grade (SG) of Nurse II from SG 15 to SG 16 and to retain the position titles of Nurse III to Nurse VII with their corresponding SGs.
For this purpose, the DBM is currently in the process of crafting the procedural guidelines to implement this decision and to ensure that the same will be implemented, consistent with existing rules and regulations. Consultations with the Department of Health (DOH) and the OP are also scheduled by the DBM to ensure the availability of funds for the purpose.
The DBM wishes to clarify that it is not its intention to deceive our nurses as we have been consistent in saying that absent of any legal basis to effect the upgrading of the salary grade of the Nurse II position, the provisions of Budget Circular No 2020-4 will continue to take effect consistent with the decision of the Supreme Court in Ang NARS Party-List, et. al. vs. the Executive Secretary, et. al (G.R. No. 215746).
Rest assured that the DBM will promptly act to implement this decision as soon as pertinent details on procedures and funding are settled with the DOH and... 
The Philippines is one of the only four (4) countries that demonstrated an adequate level of accountability in its early COVID-19 fiscal policy responses, based on the rapid assessment survey conducted by the International Budget Partnership (IBP), covering the period of March to September 2020. The other three (3) countries sharing the same ranking with the Philippines are Australia, Norway, and Peru.
Table 1: Levels of Accountability in early COVID Fiscal Policy Responses
*Source: https://internationalbudget.org/covid/
The rapid assessment on the transparency of COVID-related fiscal measures covered a total of 120 countries and used a set of 26 new indicators developed by international bodies to examine transparency, public participation and oversight of emergency fiscal policy packages introduced by governments in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The survey was answered by both civil society groups and central governments.
In particular, the Philippines was assessed based on its transparency measures, extent of public engagement, and oversight powers over its fiscal measures, as implemented under the Republic Act No. 11469 or the Bayanihan to Heal as One Act. The measures...
We, the members of the Development Budget Coordination Committee (DBCC), reviewed the government’s medium-term macroeconomic assumptions, fiscal program, and growth targets for FY 2021 to 2024. This is in light of recent developments in the domestic and external environments, the release of updated data, as well as in preparation for the FY 2022 National Expenditure Program (NEP).
Real growth projections and underlying policy recommendations
For 2021, the emerging Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth projection is slightly adjusted to 6.0 to 7.0 percent from 6.5 to 7.5 percent in view of the emergence of new COVID-19 variants and the reimposition of Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ) in the National Capital Region (NCR) Plus area during the second quarter of the year. Further, GDP is projected to return to pre-COVID-19 levels by growing at 7.0 to 9.0 percent in 2022, and will continue to grow by 6.0 to 7.0 percent in 2023 and 2024.
Our growth prospects and economic recovery will be underpinned by three interventions to arrest the spread of the virus and help the poor cope with the impact of the quarantines.
First is the intensified implementation of the prevent, detect, isolate,...
As of April 15, 2021, the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) has released a total of P646.97 Billion to support the implementation of various projects, activities and programs (P/A/Ps) in response to the COVID-19 pandemic under the Bayanihan Laws.
Of this amount, P387.17 Billion was released pursuant to Republic Act (RA) No. 11469 or the Bayanihan to Heal as One Act (or Bayanihan I). Implementing agencies reported that they have already obligated P358.24 Billion and disbursed P339.65 Billion, thus corresponding to a 92.53% obligation rate and 94.81% disbursement rate, respectively.
Releases under RA No. 11465 or the Bayanihan to Recover as One Act (or Bayanihan II), meanwhile, has amounted to P259.80 Billion. Of this, P132.65 Billion has been obligated with only P93.31 Billion disbursed based on agency reports submitted to the DBM. This translates to a 51.06% obligation rate and 70.34% disbursement rate.
In addition to the releases made to support the Bayanihan Laws, the DBM has also released P6.46 Billion for various COVID-19 P/A/Ps upon the expiration of Bayanihan I, with P4.17 Billion already obligated (64.56%) and P3.22 Billion disbursed (77.28%) as of April 15, 2021.... More in Press Releases
