SPENDING on infrastructure and other capital outlays picked up in April, the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) reported on Sunday, amid a push to increase expenditures to support economic growth.

The amount spent for infrastructure projects rose to P118.9 billion in April, 36.2 percent higher than the year-earlier P87.3 billion.

The improvement was said to be mainly due to strong spending by the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) on road infrastructure projects and contractor mobilization fees.

The release of funds for the Department of Transportation's foreign-assisted projects and capital outlays under the Department of National Defense's (DND) revised Armed Forces of the Philippines modernization program also boosted infrastructure spending growth, the DBM said.

For the four-month period, infrastructure and capital outlays spending rose by 18.2 percent to P335.7 billion from P284.0 billion in January-April 2023.

The DBM attributed the increase to the implementation of various road infrastructure programs and defense modernization projects of the DPWH and DND, respectively.

Overall government spending was P494.5 billion in April, 32.2 percent higher than the P373.9 billion a year earlier.

Year-to-date, meanwhile, it was up 16.2 percent to P1.7 trillion compared to P1.5 trillion in the same period in 2023.

"Robust disbursement performance is expected to be sustained in May with a strong two-digit growth rate vis-a-vis the 0.9 percent expansion recorded for the same month last year," the DBM said.

As of the end of April 2024, the remaining program balance from the P5.768-trillion obligation program was P809.2 billion, or about 14.0 percent of the total.

"Further releases are anticipated in the succeeding months as line agencies submit their special budget requests to implement their respective programs, activities, and projects," the DBM said.

"These will consequently accelerate the pace of government spending for the rest of the year."