CASH UTILIZATION by government agencies slowed to 72% in January, against the 74% usage rate recorded in the same month last year, according to the Department of Budget and Management (DBM).
Latest DBM data showed National Government agencies, local governments and state-owned companies used P160.94 billion out of the P224.08 billion in notices of cash allocations (NCAs) released last month, leaving P136 billion worth of unused NCAs.
This resulted in a lower 72% NCA utilization rate compared with the 74% recorded in January 2019.
NCA is the disbursement authority from the DBM issued to state agencies that allows the latter to withdraw funds from the Treasury to cover the spending needs of their programs and projects.
Line departments used 62% or P96.63 billion of the P156.34 billion in NCAs issued in January.
The Departments of National Defense and Transportation recorded the highest utilization rate among all agencies at 89% and 87%, respectively.
The DBM has released 58.42% or P2.629 trillion out of the P4.5-trillion budget for the entire 2021 in January.
This meant there is P1.877 trillion left to disburse over the remaining 11 months.
President Rodrigo R. Duterte signed Republic Act No. 11520 on Dec. 29 extending the validity of the 2020 budget for another year, allowing the government until Dec. 31, 2021 to use the funds that were not spent last year. — Beatrice M.Laforga