Gov’t spending yet to pick up pace

Government budget releases remained slightly behind last year’s pace by end-August, putting greater pressure on agencies to accelerate spending in the remaining months of 2026.

Latest data from the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) showed that allotment releases had reached 94.1 percent, or P6.391 trillion of the P6.793-trillion budget in the first eight months of the year.

This left about P401.4 billion in allotments still to be released in the final four months of 2026. The disbursement rate was slower than the 95.5 percent recorded in the same period last year.

Emerging as the biggest laggard was the Department of Agriculture (DA), the only department with a release rate below 80 percent. It received 68.8 percent, or P112.4 billion, of its P163.3-billion allotment, sharply lower than the 96.7 percent recorded a year earlier.

The DBM said it was banking on major DA programs, including the Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Program and farm-to-market road projects, to help sustain and accelerate spending in the second half.

Meanwhile, the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), which is expected to play a key role in reviving infrastructure spending to help boost the sluggish economy, received 99.5 percent, or P527.7 billion, of its P530.1-billion allotment by end-August. The rate was unchanged from end-July but higher than the 97.7 percent recorded a year earlier.

The Department of Education (DepEd), which has the largest allocation among departments, received 92.5 percent, or P889.24 billion, of its P961.14-billion budget. This was lower than the 95.9 percent recorded last year.

Most line departments have already received more than 90 percent of their programmed allotments, except the DA and Department of Tourism, whose release rate stood at 87.4 percent.

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Among those with fully released allotments were the Department of Energy, Department of Labor and Employment, Department of Migrant Workers and DBM.

Outside departments, special purpose funds had a 72.1-percent release rate, or P518.52 billion of P719.1 billion, slower than 74.6 percent a year earlier.

Automatic appropriations covering mandatory obligations, such as the national tax allotment and interest payments, reached 89.9 percent, or P2.16 trillion of P2.4 trillion, nearly unchanged from 90 percent last year.