The government’s expenses for infrastructure projects increased in April this year driven by flood control projects and foreign-assisted projects, the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) said.
The national government's total infrastructure and other capital outlays amounted to P118.9 billion during the month, up 36.2 percent from last year’s P87.3 billion.
The DBM noted that strong infrastructure spending was attributed to the infrastructure projects of the Department of Public Works and Highways and local counterpart funds for the Department of Transportation foreign-assisted projects.
Infrastructure spending was also boosted by the government’s program to modernize the assets of the Department of National Defense.
In the four months to April, the DBM said infrastructure spending amounted to P335.7 billion, up by 18.2 percent compared with P284 billion in the same period last year.
In 2023, infrastructure spending, including subsidies for state-run firms and equities for local government units, reached P1.2 trillion, up by P1.02 trillion in 2022.
Infrastructure spending program in the 2024 budget has been raised to P1.510 trillion from P1.330 trillion in the 2023 national budget
Under President Marcos’ term, the government is targeting an infrastructure spending-to-GDP ratio of 5.0 percent to 6.0 percent annually between 2024 and 2028.
Apart from infrastructure, personnel services expenditures rose by 5.2 percent to P100.4 billion during the month due to bigger clothing allowance of government employees as well as higher contributions to the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. and the Pag-IBIG Fund.
Combined allotment and capital transfers to local government units grew by 6.7 percent to P79.1 billion largely on higher national tax allotment of local government units in April.
Interest payments also jumped by 45.9 percent to P67.5 billion due to coupon payments for the issuances of Treasury bonds and retail T-bonds, higher T-bill rates and larger foreign interest rates.
The government likewise recorded higher maintenance and other operating expenses to P92.4 billion due to assistance and subsidies for the agriculture and social services sectors.