Expect an avalanche of procurement orders from federal agencies this month as these agencies must obligate the money before the fiscal year ends September 31.
Most federal agencies tried to be frugal in the first half of the year because there was no budget agreement in place. But when the federal budget was finally agreed upon, federal agencies were given $140 billion more than what they planned for— $63 billion more for civilian agencies and a whopping $80 billion more for defense.
A report by Frank Konkel for NextGov states:
“Federal agencies, now flush with cash, must obligate that money before the fiscal year ends on Sept. 30 or lose it to the Treasury Department. Analysts believe the federal market will see a monumental effort among procurement officials to spend as much on contracts as possible. “If agencies are going to spend the extra money in fiscal 2018, it’s going to have to be at a much higher percentage in the fourth quarter than it has been historically,” David Berteau, president of the Professional Services Council, told Nextgov.
[…]
“Given the challenge, Berteau expressed some doubts that contracting officials will be able to meet the unusually heavy spending demand fiscal 2018 presents.”
