Government plans to frontload spending in H1

By Iris C. Gonzales (The Philippine Star) Updated December 16, 2010 

MANILA, Philippines - The Aquino administration may frontload some spending in the first semester of 2011 mainly for infrastructure projects following the early ratification of the proposed P1.645-trillion national budget for next year, Budget Secretary Florencio Abad said yesterday. 

“It is possible now to frontload the implementation of government infrastructure programs to take advantage of good weather in the first semester,” Abad said.

The Aquino administration has lined up various infrastructure projects for 2011 under its Public-Private Partnership for Infrastructure program. Planned projects are in various areas including transportation and tourism. 

The government hopes that through the PPP, it would be able to tap the help of private investors in financing the different projects. This way, the government hopes to have more fiscal space for other necessary expenditures such as education and public health. 

Abad said the early ratification of the budget would allow the government to have an early start in implementing its programs. 

The House of Representatives and the Senate have ratified the proposed P1.645-trillion national budget for 2011. 

Abad said President Aquino is expected to sign the proposed 2011 General Appropriations Bill on or before Dec. 20. 

He also said that this early enactment is not merely a “temporal matter,” for it allows the Aquino administration to have a good and early start in implementing its priority programs in poverty reduction and human development. 

Efforts to institute transparency and accountability in public expenditure management are bolstered by this development, Abad also said. 

“Congress did not only agree with our proposed spending levels for conditional cash transfers, basic education and maternal and child healthcare. They also supported our proposed measures to shed daylight in the disbursement of public funds,” Abad added. 

The early passage of the 2011 budget paves the way for the succeeding national budgets to be enacted on time. 

“The 2011 spending plan will be the first budget since the 1999 national budget that is signed into law before the fiscal year starts,” he said.