Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III said the government will spend around P1.14 trillion in the fourth quarter to hit its total disbursement target of P3.769 trillion for 2019.
“To attain this target, the government needs to disburse P1.14 trillion or 30 percent this fourth quarter. Based on the updates of our main infrastructure agencies, we are confident that we are going to hit our spending target this year,” Dominguez said in a statement.
The members of the economic development cluster of the Cabinet met on Wednesday to discuss the progress of the catch-up spending plan to spur the economic growth in the fourth quarter.
Data showed that the gross domestic product grew by just 5.5 percent in the first half, below the 2019 target range of 6 percent to 7 percent. It was only in April that President Rodrigo Duterte signed the P3.7-trillion national budget for 2019 after months of impasse between the two houses of Congress.