WHILE the government boosted its release of cash allocations, state agencies’ budget use slipped to 93.8 percent as of the end of August, according to the Department of Budget and Management (DBM).
Latest data from the DBM showed that the notices of cash allocation (NCAs) released to government agencies hit P3.356 trillion from January to August this year.
The figure is higher by 7.43 percent from the P3.124 trillion disbursed in the same period last year.
An NCA is a disbursement authority issued by the DBM to government agencies to pay their operating expenses, purchases of supplies and materials, as well as programs and projects.
Following the NCAs released by the DBM as of end-August, government agencies only used P3.147 trillion, posting a utilization rate of 93.8 percent.
However, the cash utilization rate was lower compared to the 95 percent recorded during the same period a year ago.
A higher NCA utilization rate shows the capacity of line agencies to timely disburse their allocated funds and implement their programs and projects.
DBM data further showed that line departments utilized P2.288 trillion or 91.9 percent of the P2.490 trillion in NCAs disbursed to them. The utilization rate was also slightly lower than the 93 percent posted a year ago.
Among the departments, the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) and the Department of Education (DepEd) receive the highest NCAs worth P646.698 billion and P484.589 billion, respectively.
DepEd’s use of its cash allocations moderately improved at 95.8 percent compared to last year’s 95 percent, while DPWH’s budget utilization marginally slowed to 94.3 percent from 95 percent a year ago.
Based on the data, none of the line departments achieved a 100 percent utilization rate of its cash allocations during the eight-month period.
Still, the Commission on Audit registered the highest NCA utilization rate at 99.6 percent, trailed by the Department of Migrant Workers with 98.8 percent and the Department of Foreign Affairs with 98.5 percent.
Furthermore, budgetary support provided to government-owned and -controlled corporations (GOCCs) reached P82.843 billion as of end-August, lower by 10.47 percent year-on-year from P92.540 billion.
Of the amount, P81.697 billion was utilized, equivalent to 98.6 percent, slightly down from last year’s 99 percent.
Meanwhile, NCAs allotted to local government units (LGUs) amounted to P783.083 billion. Approximately P777.298 billion of this amount was utilized, or 99.3 percent.
State agencies, including LGUs, have a remaining P209.082 billion in unused NCAs as of the end of August.
Out of the record P6.326-trillion national budget for this year, 95.5 percent or P6.041 trillion has been released as of the end of August.
For 2026, the national budget is proposed at P6.793 trillion, 7.4 percent higher than this year’s level.