THERE will be no repeat of the government underspending said to have led to last year's below-target growth, a Cabinet official said, with a host of projects expected to be implemented with almost all of the 2024 budget already released.

"Yes there was some kind of a decline last year in terms of spending," Budget Secretary Amenah Pangandaman said on Monday during the Philippine Economic Briefing.

"[However] agencies were able to provide catch up plans by [the] third and fourth quarter," she added.

Economic growth slowed to 5.6 percent in 2023 from 7.6 percent a year earlier, below the government target of 6.0 to 7.0 percent. Fears of a 2024 repeat have been raised after first quarter growth was a slower-than-expected 5.7 percent, also lower than the 6.0- to 7.0-percent goal for the year.

Pangandaman downplayed the concern, noting that her department had already released "more than 80 percent of the budget, so we expect that by now, most ... projects are already bidded out for implementation."

"All of the national government agencies have provided a budget ... and we expect that amount will increase efficiency in terms of government spending and implementation of their projects," she added.

"So, no risk of underspending coming back this year."

Bank of the Philippine Islands senior economist Emilio Neri said the economy could have expanded by 6.4 percent in the first three months of the year had the government ramped up spending.

He noted that the government "continues to underspend" with growth of government final consumption expenditure at just 1.9 percent after last year's 0.6 percent.

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