Budget utilization hits 91.3% at end of April

Government agencies posted a budget utilization rate of 91.3% in April, running behind the 92% year-earlier pace, the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) said.

According to the Notice of Cash Allocations (NCAs) Utilization Report, the DBM said that the National Government, local governments, and state-owned companies used PHP 1.63 trillion out of the PHP 1.78 trillion in NCAs issued by the end of April.

Unused NCAs amounted to PHP 154.92 billion, the DBM said.

NCAs are quarterly disbursement authorities issued by the DBM to agencies, allowing them to withdraw funds from the Bureau of the Treasury for their spending needs.

In April, line departments used PHP 980.53 billion, or 86.5%, of their allotments, while PHP 152.81 billion remained unused.

At the end of April, the Department of Foreign Affairs posted the highest utilization rate of the line departments at 99.3%.

It was followed by the Office of the Vice-President (98.7%), the Department of Energy (98.7%), the Department of Migrant Workers (98.5%), and the Commission on Human Rights (98.3%).

The other departments with over 95% utilization were the Interior and Local Government (96.5%), Tourism (96.5%), Justice (96.3%), and Trade and Industry (95.1%), as well as State Universities and Colleges (95.1%).

The Department of Agriculture posted the lowest utilization rate of 44.2% at the end of April.

The other agencies with the low utilization rates were the Commission on Elections (51%), Other Executive Offices (54.9%), the Civil Service Commission (60.6%), the Presidential Communications Office (61%), and the Department of Transportation (67.3%).

About 99.2% or P153.79 billion of the budgetary support to government-owned and -controlled corporations had been utilized by the end of April.

Meanwhile, allocations to the local government units (LGUs) were 99.8% utilized, while NCAs issued to the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority were 92.5% used.

Michael L. Ricafort, chief economist at Rizal Commercial Banking Corp., said the utilization rate still reflects some underspending since late 2025.

“The lower utilization may have to do with more caution about corruption since the flood control scandal,” he said.

“Going forward, catch up government spending for the coming months … could lead to higher budget utilization,” Mr. Ricafort added. — Justine Irish D. Tabile