DPWH, DepEd cash utilization rate faltered in August

The Marcos administration’s push to boost spending efficiency faced a slight setback as of end-August, as the cash utilization rate of key government agencies fell behind last year’s pace.

Latest data from the Department of Budget and Management’s (DBM) Notices of Cash Allocation (NCA) showed that agencies had utilized P3.36 trillion or 92.7 percent of the funds released as of end-August.

While the amount of cash released was higher than a year earlier, actual utilization rate was lower than the 93.8 percent recorded in the same period last year, when agencies had used P3.147 trillion.

The slower utilization left about P264 billion in unused cash allocations as of end-August.

NCA refers to the authority issued by the DBM that allows agencies to withdraw funds from the national treasury to cover their cash requirements for operations, programs and projects.

A lower utilization rate means a larger portion of released cash allocations remained unused, possibly slowing the implementation of government programs and projects.

Biggest drags

Broken down, line departments recorded a utilization rate of 89.6 percent, using P2.214 trillion of funds released. This was lower than the 91.9 percent recorded a year earlier.

Among the biggest drags was the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), which is at the center of the government’s efforts to ramp up spending in a bid to boost economic growth.

The DPWH utilized just 78.4 percent, or P324.23 billion, of its P413.69-billion allocation. This was sharply lower than the 94.3 percent utilization rate recorded a year earlier.

The Department of Education, which received the largest cash allocation among line departments at P569.2 billion, utilized 93.2 percent, or P530.71 billion. This was also lower than the 95.8 percent recorded a year earlier.

Several agencies, however, nearly fully utilized their cash allocations. These included the Department of National Defense at 97.4 percent, state universities and colleges at 97.8 percent, the Department of Energy at 98.9 percent, as well as the Commission on Audit and Commission on Human Rights at 99.6 percent each.

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All of these agencies recorded higher utilization rates than a year earlier.

How GOCCs, LGUs fared

Meanwhile, other cash allocations posted a 99.4-percent utilization rate, with P1.145 trillion used out. This was slightly higher than the 99.2 percent recorded a year earlier.

The improvement was driven by higher utilization of both subsidies to government-owned and -controlled corporations (GOCCs) and allocations to local government units (LGUs).

Subsidies to GOCCs reached a 99.3-percent utilization rate, with P197.79 billion used, up from 98.6 percent a year earlier.

Allocations to LGUs were utilized at a 99.5-percent rate, with P948.1 billion used, compared with 99.3 percent a year earlier.