The Department of Budget and Management (DBM) has released P4.30 trillion in allotments in the first 11 months of the year.
Data from the Budget department showed that allotment releases from January to November matched the adjusted P4.30-trillion program of the government. The amount improved on the P4.15 trillion released in the first 10 months and the P3.62 trillion in the first 11 months of 2019.
Of the total, P2.27 trillion went to line departments, which include funds allocated to agencies and other constitutional offices.
A total of P454.99 billion was released as special purpose funds (SPFs), which are budgetary allocations in the General Appropriations Act (GAA) for specific socioeconomic purposes.
These are usually lump sum in nature, as the recipient agencies and/or specific programs and projects were not identified during the budget’s preparation and legislation.
SPFs are used as budgetary support for government corporations; allocation to local government units; and contingency, miscellaneous personnel benefit, national disaster risk reduction and management, and pension and gratuity funds.
Allotment releases for automatic appropriations or appropriations programmed annually hit P1.23 trillion. These include P53.96 billion for retirement and life insurance premiums, P648.88 billion for internal revenue allotment, P63.63 billion for block grant, P480,000 for pension of ex-presidents and widows of former presidents, P22.45 billion for special account for the general fund, P10 billion for net lending, P420.96 billion for interest payments, and P14.50 billion for tax expenditures fund/customs duties and taxes.
The DBM also released P96.11 billion in the 11-month period from the continuing appropriations of the 2019 GAA for line departments and SPF. It said these appropriations were available to support obligations for a specified purpose or project, such as multiyear construction projects that require incurring obligations beyond one fiscal year.
Unprogrammed appropriations worth P24.24 billion have been released. These appropriations authorize additional agency expenditures for priority programs and projects when revenue collections exceed the resource targets or when additional grants or foreign funds are generated.
Allotments for other automatic appropriations worth P14.98 billion have also been released.