Government has released 86% of 2023 budget: Philippines

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The government has released P4.5 trillion of the 2023 budget or roughly 86 percent of the record P5.268-trillion allocation for this year, as agencies ramp up their various programs.

Latest data from the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) showed that it has issued a total of P4.52 trillion of the 2023 budget as of end-April.

This represents 85.8 percent of the national budget allocated for the year, barely moving from the 85.6 percent in April 2022.

The DBM released a total of P3.18 trillion under the 2023 General Appropriations Act (GAA). This is 86.9 percent of the total P3.66 trillion financing.

Under the 2023 GAA, the DBM said it has distributed 94.8 percent or P2.98 trillion of the P3.15 trillion for departments.

In terms of special purpose funds, releases increased to 38.5 percent or P198.1 billion out of the P513.85 billion.

On the other hand, releases for automatic appropriations also went up and reached 70.5 percent or P1.13 trillion of the P1.61 trillion aggregate funding.

As of end-April, the DBM has fully released allocation for the national tax allotment (P820.27 billion) and block grants (P64.76 billion).

Releases for the special account in the general fund at P32.17 billion was also completed, inclusive of the P10 billion for the implementation of the Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Program.

Further, the DBM increased its releases for interest payments, now at 24.4 percent or P141.98 billion out of the P582.32 billion earmarked for interest payments.

During the month, a significant jump in releases was noted for the tax expenditure fund, now at 56.2 percent or P8.15 billion of the P14.5 billion for disbursement.

The DBM likewise issued an additional P299.42 million to cover the benefits of new hires on top of the entire P64.2 billion in retirement and life insurance premiums of state workers, which was already fully released since January.

On the other hand, no extra fund was issued for pensions of former presidents or their widows last month as the full allocation of P480,000 was already completed at the start of 2023.

The DBM also finally released resources for net lending although at a minimal amount of P640 million or more than two percent of the P28.7 billion allocation.

Meanwhile, the DBM recorded P205.53 billion in other releases as of end-April. The bulk of that at P177.8 billion went to unprogrammed appropriations.

This year's budget is expected to help the government hit its six to seven percent growth target for 2023.

For 2024, the national budget is pegged at another record P5.569 trillion, up 5.7 percent.