What is

6 Feb 2023

What is an Appropriation?

An appropriation is authorization pursuant to laws or other legislative enactment directing the payment of goods and services out of government funds under specified conditions or for specified purposes. There are several types of appropriation, among these are the following: Automatic appropriation is one-time legislative authorization to provide funds for a specified purpose, for which the amount may or may not be fixed by law, and is made automatically available and set aside as needed. Since it is already covered by a separate law, it does not require periodic action by Congress, and need not be included in the legislation...

Budgeting 101

26 May 2020

What is Fiscal Space?

The Department of Budget and Management (DBM) defines fiscal space as the available funding that the government could use for its priority programs. Fiscal space is computed as the difference between projected obligations ceilings (after considering projected revenues and deficit targets) and forward estimates of the cost of ongoing programs. The President and the Cabinet will lead the setting of the strategic direction and distribution of the unallocated fiscal space, allowing the better assessment of trade-offs and opportunities. If fiscal space is limited or negative, decisions may need to be taken to reduce activities and limit spending on new projects....

10 Apr 2020

What is a Disbursement Authority?

A disbursement authority is a document issued to an agency authorizing the liquidation/payment of obligations incurred. There are several types of disbursement authority issued by the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) to government agencies. These documents include the following: 1. Cash Disbursement Ceiling (CDC). An authority issued by the DBM to departments with overseas operations e.g., Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) and Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) to utilize their income collected/retained by their foreign service posts (FSPs) to cover their operating requirements but not to exceed the allotment released to the said post. 2. Notice of Cash...

Government Budgeting

10 Apr 2020

What is a Budget Call?

A budget call, is budget document, usually in the form of a National Budget Memorandum, issued by the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) at the start of the budget preparation phase. The budget call contains, among others, the budget priorities framework of the government, which sets budget priorities, macroeconomic assumptions, and fiscal parameters for the proposed budget. The budget call may also contain guidelines, procedures, and prescribed forms in formulating budget proposals to be used by national government agencies. Post Views: 2,548

Government Budgeting / What is

10 Apr 2020

What is Agency Performance Review (APR)

Agency Performance Review (APR) refers to the process of determining the level of accomplishment of each agency in terms of major final outputs, income generated, and actual expenditures incurred in the production/delivery of goods and services to the public vis-à-vis the targets/budgets for the same period. Pursuant to DBM Circular Letter No. 2018-13, national government agencies are required to submit to the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) semi-annual reports of their accomplishments, both work and financial results in the form of Agency Performance Review. Schedule of APR: For the 1st Semester (covering January 1 to June 30) – the...

Government Budgeting / What is

25 Mar 2020

What is Augmentation?

Augmentation is the act of the constitutional officers (i.e., President, Senate President, Speaker of the House of Representatives, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, and Heads of Constitutional Offices such as the Commission on Audit, Commision on Election, and Civil Service Commission) authorized to use savings in their respective appropriations to cover a deficiency in any existing item of appropriation within their respective offices. Section 25 (5), Article VI of the 1987 Constitution, provides that no law shall be passed authorizing any transfer of appropriations; however, the President, the President of the Senate, the Speaker of the House of Representatives,...

Government Budgeting / What is

24 Mar 2020

What is Savings?

In general, savings refer to portion or balances of any released appropriations which have not been obligated as a result of circumstances or events as identified in an Appropriation Act. The meaning of savings varies from one Appropriation Act to another. Hence, it is important to always refer to the General Provisions of an Appropriation Act to know what the Act mean by savings. Post Views: 303

What is

16 Mar 2020

What is an Advice/Authority to Debit Account (ADA)?

An Advice/Authority to Debit Account (ADA) refers to the accountable disbursement document which serves as notice to the Modified Disbursement System – Government Servicing Bank (MDS- GSB) (i.e., Landbank of the Philippines, Development Bank of the Philippines, or Philippine Veterans Bank) to debit the agency’s MDS sub- account for payment of accounts payable due to external creditors, Retirement Gratuity (RG) /Terminal Leave (TL), transfers to Local Government Units (LGUs), e.g. Internal Revenue Allotment (IRA), Special Shares from Revenues for LGUs, and credit the current/savings account (CA/SA) of the creditor/retiree. [Read: What is an Accounts Payable] Post Views: 5,685

What is

11 Mar 2020

What is Personnel Services

Personnel Services (PS) is one of the four (4) expense classification in Philippine budgeting system. Personnel Services (PS) refer to an expenditure category/expense class for the payment of salaries, wages and other compensation (e.g., merit, salary increase, personnel economic relief allowance, honoraria and commutable allowances, etc.) of permanent, temporary, contractual, and casual employees of the government. Source: Glossary of Terms, Department of Budget and Management Post Views: 5,585

Government Budgeting