GOVERNMENT SPENDING. The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) regional office in Tacloban City. The agency reported Monday (May 10, 2021) that government spending in Eastern Visayas reached PHP105.29 billion in 2020, higher by 9.5 percent the previous year, as more resources were poured to address the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic in the region. (PNA file photo)
TACLOBAN CITY – Government spending in Eastern Visayas reached PHP105.29 billion in 2020, higher by 9.5 percent the previous year, as more resources were poured to address the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic in the region.
The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported on Monday that last year’s government final consumption expenditure (GFCE) was higher than the PHP96.16 billion recorded in 2019 as the government accelerated the delivery of services.
PSA Eastern Visayas regional director Wilma Perante said the GFCE refers to the value of all types of output of the general government to provide goods and services to the people for free or at insignificant prices.
“Included in GFCE are the expenditures of the government on salaries of employees, supplies, materials, and other expenses that are needed in the everyday operations of government institutions,” Perante said in a statement.
Government expenditure accounts for 24.3 percent of the region’s aggregate demand for goods and services, according to the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) regional office here.
“Spending of the government continued to accelerate in 2020 with the implementation of the Bayanihan I, among other important programs, to end the pandemic,” NEDA regional director Bonifacio Uy said when reached for comment.
The Bayanihan law allowed President Rodrigo Duterte to “reallocate, realign, and reprogram" billions of pesos budget of almost PHP275 billion from the estimated PHP438-billion national budget approved for 2020.
GFCE is the only item in the Eastern Visayas gross regional domestic expenditure (GRDE) that posted an increase between 2019 to 2020.
The most affected by movement restrictions is the spending for construction activities that were cut from PHP167.23 billion in 2019 to PHP99.38 billion in 2020.
The GRDE complements the gross regional domestic product (GRDP) in monitoring the economic performance of a region. It is the sum of all final uses of goods and services by residents of the region in the domestic territory, plus their expenditures in other regions, including the rest of the world, according to PSA.
Eastern Visayas’ GRDP dropped by 7.6 percent in 2020, a steep decline from the previous year’s growth, as the Covid-19 pandemic disrupted the region’s economic activities.
The 2020 GRDP nosedived from the 5.6-percent positive growth in 2019, or a drop of 13.2 percentage points, dragged down by the poor performance of the industry and services sectors. (PNA)
