DBM: 2014 GAA to serve as release document

Secretary of Budget and Management Florencio "Butch" Abad on Wednesday announced that the 2014 General Appropriations Act (GAA) will also serve as the primary fund release document, ushering in a budget regime that will vastly improve the pace of disbursements and ensure the faster delivery of high-impact socioeconomic programs and projects to the Filipino people.

According to Abad, the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) will begin to phase out the Agency Budget Matrices (ABMs) and Special Allotment Release Orders (SAROs) from the budget process next year to facilitate the swift and efficient implementation of the Administration's expenditure program.

"We crafted the proposed 2014 budget so that it will also stand as the National Government's fund release document, where agency budgets are practically released the moment the National Budget is enacted. This eliminates the need to prepare ABMs early in the fiscal year, besides abolishing the lengthy and elaborate process of releasing allotments to departments and agencies.

"More important, however, this transition toward a GAA-as-release-document regime will enhance the operational efficiency of all agencies across the bureaucracy, allowing us to speed up government disbursements and fast-track the implementation of programs and projects set for the year," Abad said.

In the past, the DBM would prepare ABMs together with other departments and agencies once the National Budget was enacted. The matrix disaggregated all programmed agency appropriations into various expenditure categories, also serving as the basis for the timing, composition, and magnitude of budget releases.

SAROs, on the other hand, are official documents that authorize the release of an agency allocation for specific programs and projects, containing as well the conditions set for the use of these funds.

The DBM issues SAROs to the head of the agency when the requesting party has satisfied all the requirements for the fund release.

Abad clarified that while the DBM will do away with SAROs and ABMs for most fund releases, certain items in the budget will still need DBM issuances to support their release, including funds that require Presidential approval and remaining lump-sum allocations in the National Budget, such as the Calamity Fund.

He also highlighted the new output and outcome-based presentation of the 2014 Budget through the Performance-Informed Budget structure, alongside other Administration-led budget reforms – including the disaggregation of lump-sum funds, the one-year validity of appropriations, and zero-based budgeting – all of which were designed to increase predictability in the budget execution and compel agencies to fast-track the implementation of programs.

"We are institutionalizing these budget reforms to simplify the budget document, shorten the processing of budgetary requests, and push for increased transparency and accountability in public expenditure. Ultimately, we will bring the positive impact of these measures to bear on our campaign for socio-economic growth and inclusive development, so that the benefits of good governance will produce real and immediate benefits to the ordinary Filipino, particularly the poor and disadvantaged," Abad said. (PNA)