The Market Monitor Minding the Nation's Business
The Department of Transportation (DOTr) is confident of achieving optimal budget utilization by year end with a highly efficient disbursement rate attained in the first half of 2024.
“With better financial performance for the first half of 2024, we now ask the Congress to support our expenditure proposal for the fiscal year 2025,” Transport Secretary Jaime J. Bautista said during the House of Representative Committee on Appropriations deliberation on the proposed P180.894 billion budget of DOTr.
Bulk or 74% of the proposed DOTr’s National Expenditure Program (NEP) for 2025 is for capital outlay, according to Sec. Bautista.
The transport chief informed the House panel, chaired by Ako Bicol Partylist Rep. Elizaldy Co, that chunk of the agency’s budget is mainly for the implementation of big-ticket transport infrastructure projects in railways, aviation, maritime and road sectors.
Sec. Bautista stressed that infrastructure development remains a high priority of the administration, with the DOTr not only pushing for fast-tracking the construction of transport infrastructures but also to expand its other projects.
“With the reported accomplishments and still a long list of projects in the pipeline, we bank on the support of Congress to transform our vision into a reality,” Sec. Bautista added.