GOVERNMENT agencies improved their spending in July, reaching a utilization rate of 94 percent, data from the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) showed.

According to the 2024 report on the utilization of Notices Cash Allocation (NCA), the national government, along with local governments and state-owned enterprises, employed P2.58 trillion out of the total P2.74 trillion worth of NCAs issued by the end of July.

This resulted in P153.8 billion remaining as unutilized funds.

The utilization rate was higher than the 92 percent rate recorded in the same period last year.

NCAs represent a quarterly authorization granted by the DBM to organizations, enabling them to access funds from the Bureau of the Treasury to fulfill their expenditure requirements.

At the end of July, departments used P2.06 trillion, or 93 percent of their allotments, leaving P150.6 billion unused.

No agency achieved a 100-percent utilization rate, the DBM said.

The Commission on Human Rights posted the highest budget usage rate of 99 percent at the end of July, spending P583.8 million out of the allocated P589.7 million.

This was followed by the Commission on Audit (98 percent), the Department of National Defense (96 percent), the Department of Education (95 percent), and Department of Interior and Local Government (95 percent).

Meanwhile, the Department of Migrant Workers recorded the lowest utilization of 68 percent, having used only P4.18 billion out of its P6.18-billion allocation.

Budget authorities have already disbursed P5.43 trillion of the P5.768-trillion budget for this year as of end-July. This accounts for 92.2 percent of the annual budget.