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Manila Bulletin devider Business devider The Economy devider Gov't spending efficiency slips in 2025 as unused funds hit ₱115 billion

Gov't spending efficiency slips in 2025 as unused funds hit ₱115 billion

Published Mar 17, 2026 03:56 pm
Government agencies posted a marginal decline in spending efficiency last year, with unused cash authority climbing as some of the country’s most prominent offices struggled to deploy their allocated budgets.
Data from the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) indicates that the utilization rate for notices of cash allocation (NCAs) ended at 97.7 percent in 2025, a modest contraction from the 99 percent recorded in 2024.
While the DBM increased total fund releases to ₱4.96 trillion—a 1.2 percent rise from the ₱4.90 trillion released in 2024—the actual pace of disbursement resulted in ₱114.5 billion in unused cash authority by the end of 2025, compared to ₱72.1 billion left at the close of 2024.
Among major departments, the Office of the President (OP) was the primary laggard with a utilization rate of 66.2 percent, marking a sharp decline from its 86 percent utilization rate in 2024.
This was followed by the Commission on Elections (COMELEC), with a 72 percent utilization rate, massively dropping from a perfect 100 percent utilization rate in 2024.
Additionally, the Department of Energy (DOE) recorded a 72.4 percent cash utilization rate in 2025, dropping from 90 percent a year earlier.
Congress had an overall utilization rate of 86.9 percent, dropping from its 90 percent rate in 2024. It bears noting that the House of Representatives achieved 100 percent utilization, while the Senate significantly lowered the average with a rate of only 59.4 percent.
Meanwhile, the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) showed a major increase in efficiency, rising from an 82 percent utilization rate in 2024 to 99.2 percent in 2025.
Further, after being one of the lowest performers in 2024 at 67 percent, the Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development (DHSUD) improved significantly to 88.6 percent in 2025. The Department of Budget and Management (DBM) also improved from 72 percent to 83.7 percent.
Several departments maintained near-perfect utilization across both years. The Judiciary and the Office of the Ombudsman consistently utilized 100 percent of their NCAs in both 2024 and 2025.
Likewise, the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) remained extremely high, moving from 100 percent in 2024 to 99.9 percent a year ago.
Among the large-volume agencies, the Department of Education (DepEd) increased its release volume from ₱730.7 billion (98 percent utilization) in 2024 to ₱796.7 billion (98.3 percent utilization) in 2025.
Notably, the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) experienced a decrease from ₱968.9 billion (100 percent) in 2024 to ₱777.9 billion (96.1 percent utilization) in 2025.
Releases by the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) grew slightly from ₱332.3 billion (100 percent) to ₱338.4 billion (99.2 percent).
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