Philippine infrastructure spending up 20.5% in January-November

The Philippine government's infrastructure spending rose by 20.5 percent on year to 223.3 billion pesos (4.91 billion U.S. dollars) from January to November 2013, the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) said Tuesday. Budget Secretary Florencio Abad said the government ramped up spending to help rebuild areas in central Philippines that were devastated by typhoon Haiyan. "(The government) plans to make swifter disbursements for rehabilitation and reconstruction in all calamity-affected areas in the coming months," Abad said in a statement. The Philippine government had targeted to spend 295 billion pesos (6.7 billion U.S. dollars) for infrastructure projects in 2013. This year, the National Economic and Development Authority said 399 billion pesos (9.15 billion U.S. dollars) had been set aside for infrastructure spending. As of end-November, the DBM had released 95.3 percent of the total 2 trillion pesos (45.7 billion U.S. dollars) budget for 2013