INFRASTRUCTURE SPENDING slumped by nearly 30% 12 months on 12 months in February amid delays in billing claims, the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) said.
Within the National Government (NG) disbursement report released on Thursday, spending on infrastructure and other capital outlays fell by 29.2%, or P27.4 billion, to P66.4 billion in February from P93.8 billion in the identical month in 2025.
Month on month, infrastructure spending nearly tripled from P22.3 billion in January.
For the primary two months of the 12 months, infrastructure spending plunged by 40.1% to P88.7 billion from P148.3 billion in the identical period a 12 months ago. This represents just 7% of this system this 12 months.
Under the 2026 Budget of Expenditures and Sources of Financing, the Development Budget Coordination Committee (DBCC) projected spending on infrastructure and other capital outlays to succeed in P1.27 trillion in 2026. Nevertheless, this excludes infrastructure subsidies and equities to government-owned and -controlled corporations in addition to infrastructure transfers to local government units.
The DBM attributed the decline within the January-to-February period to delays in billing claims. It noted that almost all of the projects funded under last 12 months’s budget are still ongoing, while the implementation of this 12 months’s budget continues.
“It could actually even be noted that infrastructure disbursements throughout the first quarter of 2025 were relatively higher as a consequence of the frontloading of some expenditures and settlements of accounts payable ahead of the election ban throughout the time,” it added.
In the primary two months, overall infrastructure disbursements dipped by 54.4% to P128.6 billion from P182.9 billion a 12 months ago.
The DBCC earlier projected infrastructure disbursements to succeed in P1.558 trillion in 2026 or 5.1% of gross domestic product.
The DBM said it expects infrastructure disbursements to stay soft in the primary half of the 12 months, while spending may very well be driven by continuous implementation of a strict review and validation process for payment claims.
It said that disbursements will remain muted as “the bottom effects of huge settlement of accounts payables in the primary quarter last 12 months persist, while the completion of projects carried over from the previous 12 months is ongoing.”
“Nonetheless, the standard of infrastructure spending may profit from the continual implementation of a strict review and validation process for payment claims,” it added.
Last 12 months, the country was rocked by a corruption scandal tied to flood control projects that implicated government officials, lawmakers, and contractors. This prompted the federal government to tighten monitoring of project implementation and completion status, but this caused delays.
As of end-February, the DBM said that this system balance amounted to P2.48 trillion or 36.5% of the whole P6.79-trillion obligation program for the 12 months.
The remaining balances consist largely of interest payments (P950 billion), agency-specific budgets (P915.2 billion), and special purpose funds (P577.5 billion).
“The majority of the unreleased allotments of agency-specific budgets pertain to the infrastructure projects of the Department of Public Works and Highways, which shall be released through the issuance of a Special Allotment Release Order,” it added.
Michael L. Ricafort, chief economist at Rizal Industrial Banking Corp., said the decline in infrastructure spending reflects the federal government’s cautious spending “to not less than prevent corruption.”
In the approaching months, he expects the federal government to compensate for spending amid reforms in governance standards “that will help improve investor confidence.”
Nevertheless, Mr. Ricafort warned that higher prices and inflation could push up the fee of assorted government projects, which “may very well be a drag, widen the budget deficit and increase the debt stock.” — Justine Irish D. Tabile