MANILA, Philippines, October 30 ------ The government managed to trim its budget deficit from January to September to P1.01 trillion as higher revenues outpaced the growth of expenditure receipts amid a slight underspending during the period, according to the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr).
Latest data from the BTr showed that the deficit in September was almost flat, narrowing by less than a percentage to P179.8 billion from P180.9 billion in the same period last year. This brought the year-to-date fiscal deficit to P1.01 trillion as of end-September, 11 percent lower than the P1.14 trillion in the same period last year Despite a lower budget shortfall, the deficit still means that the government is spending beyond what it is getting from revenue collections.
Based on the actual program targeted by the government, the end-September deficit should have been higher at P1.27 trillion. Total revenue collection for September improved by 25 percent to P288.8 billion as against the P231.4 billion in 2021, with the Bureau of Customs (BOC) and Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) both posting increases. This effectively brought the nine-month revenue to P2.66 trillion, 19 percent higher than the P2.24 trillion in the same period last year. This accounted for 80 percent of the full-year program and is about eight percent better than the P2.45 trillion revenue expectation from the government for the first nine months.
The bulk or 90 percent of the revenues were from tax collections at P2.38 trillion, up 17 percent. While BIR’s haul grew by 12 percent to P1.73 trillion, this was two percent short of the collection goal. Customs, on the other hand, saw its collection jump by 36 percent to P638.5 billion from P469.8 billion last year. The BOC is 18 percent above its revenue targets, achieving 88 percent of its full-year program. Non-tax collections also soared by 32 percent to P272.6 billion from the 2021 level of P207.2 billion.
Income generated by the Treasury for the nine-month period picked up by 23 percent to P129.7 billion, largely due to higher government share payments from the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp., the Treasury’s managed funds, and interest on national government deposits. Collections from other offices, including privatization proceeds and fees and charges for January to September, picked up by 41 percent to P142.9 billion. Meanwhile, government spending in September went up 13.63 percent to P468.6 billion from P412.4 billion in the comparative period.
The Treasury said this was driven by higher capital expenditures, national tax allotment of local governments and interest payments, alongside the subsidy releases for the country’s health programs. This brought year-to-date spending to P3.67 trillion, 8.71 percent higher than last year’s P3.38 trillion. However, the government underspent during the nine-month period by almost two percent as it is programmed to spend some P3.74 trillion. Nonetheless, this narrowed down from the three percent gap during the first semester, indicating the gradual catching-up of agency disbursements.
To date, the national government has already disbursed 74 percent of the P5 trillion full-year program. Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. chief economist Michael Ricafort attributed the slight decline in the budget gap for September to higher government expenditures as the current high inflation required more spending. “This can also be due to the weaker peso exchange rate and higher local and global interest rates that increased borrowing costs and debt servicing for the government,” he said.
Source: philstar.com
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