DBM: 2018 gov’t spending now at 96.5%

MANILA, Philippines —The Department of Budget and Management (DBM) has already released 96.5 percent or P3.633 trillion of the P3.7 trillion 2018 national budget as of November 30.

In a statement released Wednesday, the DBM said this is P4 billion higher than the reported P3.629 trillion released funds in its November 22 report.

“Besides continuing appropriations from the General Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year 2017 amounting to P3.05 billion, unprogrammed appropriations worth P12.32 billion were also included in the additional release,” DBM noted.

These unprogrammed appropriations include the P3.5-billion support for foreign-assisted projects, P8-billion support for infrastructure projects and social programs, and P800 million in general fund adjustments.

Other automatic appropriations with a total of P3.89 billion were also covered by the release, which include the funding for the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) Modernization Program, grants and donations, and others, the DBM said. /ee