Infrastructure spending cut drags disbursements in November

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February 2, 2026 | 12:00am

MANILA, Philippines — Government infrastructure spending contracted sharply in November, pulling down overall national government disbursements for the month, as delays tied to corruption probes weighed on project implementation.

Based on data from the Department of Budget and Management (DBM), infrastructure spending slumped by 45.2 percent to P48 billion in November 2025 from P87.6 billion a year ago, marking the fifth straight month of infrastructure spending contraction.

The DBM said that the Department of Public Works and Highways continued to post negative growth “amid the ongoing probe and crackdown on corruption issues.”

“This consequently slowed down the implementation of its various infrastructure projects nationwide and affected the prompt submission of progress billings by contractors and processing of payment claims,” the DBM said.

As a result, total national government disbursements slid to P498.3 billion in November 2025, lower by 9.6 percent from a year earlier.

The November decline was also driven by weaker capital transfers to local government units, which plunged by 50.1 percent, as well as lower maintenance and other operating expenses, tax expenditures and subsidies to government corporations.

Despite the monthly slowdown, cumulative spending from January to November last year remained higher. National government disbursements reached P5.41 trillion as of end-November, up by 2.5 percent from the same period in 2024.

Cash disbursements issued with notices of cash allocation fell by 11.9 percent year-on-year to P406.0 billion in November due to lower capital outlays, capital transfers to local government units, maintenance spending and subsidies.

In contrast, non-cash disbursements inched up by 1.9 percent to P92.3 billion, “mainly due to higher interest payments.”

Personnel services partly cushioned the decline, rising by 6.8 percent to P194.2 billion year-on-year, “owing mostly to the implementation of the second tranche of salary adjustments for qualified civilian government employees.”

Interest payments also climbed by 16 percent to P77.3 billion in November, reflecting additional issuances of fixed-rate Treasury and benchmark bonds, new retail Treasury bonds and the effect of foreign exchange fluctuations.

For the January to November period, infrastructure and other capital outlays declined by 16 percent to P991.1 billion from P1.18 trillion, with spending “weighed down significantly by the contraction of DPWH’s disbursements during the period in the wake of flood control corruption issues.”

Looking ahead, spending was expected to accelerate in December, supported by releases for personnel benefits, social programs, education-related subsidies and local development initiatives, as agencies moved to close their books before year-end.