Budget release rate hits 67.6% in March

THE Department of Budget and Management (DBM) said it had released 67.6% of the 2026 national budget by the end of the first quarter.

According to the DBM Status of Allotment Release report, the releases amounted to P4.55 trillion out of the original program of P6.79 trillion, leaving P2.24 trillion undistributed.

The release rate at the end of last month was running behind the year-earlier pace of 87.2%.

Releases to government agencies and departments amounted to P2.77 trillion at the end of March, equivalent to 75.4% of their allocations.

Special purpose funds released by the end of the month stood at P198.78 billion, representing 27.6% of the funds allocated.

Meanwhile, automatic appropriation releases were at 66%, or P1.58 trillion.

These include the National Tax Allotment of P1.19 trillion, P176.75 billion in interest payments, P93.98 billion for Block Grant, P82.29 billion for the retirement and life insurance premiums, and P36.47 billion for a special account in the general fund (which includes the P6-billion allotment for the Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Program), among others.

The report also showed other releases amounting to P73.14 billion, which include continuing appropriations from last year worth P6.15 billion, P54.78 billion unprogrammed appropriations, and other automatic appropriations worth P12.2 billion.

Including the other releases, budget allotment reached 68.1% or P4.63 trillion, leaving P2.17 trillion left undistributed.

Michael L. Ricafort, chief economist at Rizal Commercial Banking Corp., said that the lower utilization rate could reflect “efforts to prevent corruption as a matter of prudence.”

He said that the corruption scandal linked to flood control projects led to some government underspending in the latter part of last year.

“For the coming months, catch up spending by the National Government to make up for the underspending … and the resulting higher prices due to the war in the Middle East since Feb. 28 could lead to some increase in government expenditure,” he said via Viber. — Justine Irish D. Tabile