MANILA — The government already released 82.1 percent of the 2017 national budget at the end of the first five months, a slower pace than a year ago, the latest Department of Budget and Management data showed. During the January to May period, P2.749 trillion of the record P3.35-trillion budget was released, including continuing appropriations under the 2016 national budget and other automatic appropriations. To compare, 85.2 percent or P2.557 trillion of the nonetheless smaller P3.002-trillion 2016 budget was released as of end-May last year. As for special purpose funds, P158.918 billion or 34.3 percent of the P463.189 billion allotted for 2017 have been released. For 2018, the government will pitch a record P3.84-trillion national budget, up 14.6 percent from this year’s budget, the Cabinet-level, interagency Development Budget Coordination Committee said in a report last December.

Source: Philippine Daily Inquirer June 06, 2017 04:52 UTC