ZCZC
BCN-30
PHILIPPINES-ECONOMY-INFRASTRUCTURE
Philippines’ spending on infrastructure soars by 41.6 pct in H1
MANILA, Aug. 2, 2018 (BSS/Xinhua) – The Philippine fiscal spending on
infrastructure soared by 41.6 percent year on year in the first half of this
year on the back of higher disbursements related to the administration’s
Build, Build, Build program, according to data released by the government on
Wednesday.
The Philippine Department of Budget and Management (DBM) said spending for
infrastructure and other capital outlays continue to soar as it hit 352.7
billion pesos (roughly 6.7 billion U.S. dollars) in the first half of 2018,
up 103.6 billion pesos (roughly 1.95 billion U.S. dollars) or 41.6 percent,
year-on-year.
This also puts actual infrastructure disbursements above-program by 14.4
billion pesos (roughly 271.51 million U.S. dollars) or 4.3 percent, the DBM
said.
“This is attributed to infrastructure projects of various agencies,
especially the road infrastructure projects of the Department of Public Works
and Highways (DPWH),” Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno said during a forum on
Wednesday.
Diokno said disbursements for public spending in the first half of the
year have reached 1.604 trillion pesos (30.252 billion U.S. dollars), higher
by 272.7 billion pesos (roughly 5.143 billion U.S. dollars) or 20.5 percent,
year-on-year.
Compared to the program for the first half of 2018, he said actual
spending increases 34.4 billion pesos (roughly 648.9 million U.S. dollars) or
2.2 percent.
“The performance of government spending is unprecedented, because we are
ahead of the program for the first time in history. This is a result of the
reforms we have implemented in planning and budgeting,” Diokno said.
Although disbursements exceeded the program for the first half of the
year, Diokno said revenue collection continued to be robust giving the
government enough fiscal space to stay well within the deficit ceiling.
Diokno said revenue collections as of June 30, 2018 reached 1.411 trillion
pesos (roughly 26.61 billion U.S. dollars), surpassing the program of 1.305
trillion pesos (24.61 billion U.S. dollars) by 105.7 billion pesos (roughly
1.993 billion U.S. dollars) or 8.1 percent.
This also represents a 234.2 billion pesos (roughly 4.42 billion U.S.
dollars) or 19.9 percent increase, year-on-year, he added.
The better-than-expected expenditure-revenue mix resulted in a deficit of
193.0 billion pesos, 71.3 billion pesos or 27.0 percent below the 264.3
billion pesos program for the first half of the year.
The Build Build Build program, which is designed to make up for the
inadequacies in the country’s dismal state of infrastructure, will usher in
the Golden Age of Infrastructure in the Philippines, according to the
government.
The Duterte administration intends to spend 8 trillion to 9 trillion
pesos, or roughly 160 billion to 180 billion U.S. dollars in six years.
BSS/XINHUA/HR/1145