Government revenue collections rise to P1.6 trillion in 5 months

MANILA, Philippines, July 1 ----- The government hiked its revenue collections by 11 percent to P1.6 trillion in the first five months of the year amid gains in both tax and non-tax earnings.

In a briefing, Finance Secretary Benjamin Diokno said revenue collection from January to May went up by 10.83 percent to P1.59 trillion, as against the P1.44 trillion in the same period last year. Bulk or 89 percent of the revenues were from tax collections at P1.41 trillion, up by 10 percent. Non-tax collections also improved by 21 percent to P178 billion as of end-May.

The Bureau of Internal Revenue’s haul increased by 10 percent to P1.05 trillion while the Bureau of Customs saw its collection pick up by 12 percent to P359.3 billion from P320.5 billion. On the other hand, income generated by the Bureau of the Treasury slightly went down by 1.34 percent to P82.2 billion. Collection from other offices, including privatization proceeds and fees and charges for January to May, surged by almost 50 percent to P95.8 billion. “The increase in revenues was due to the overcollection of Customs and the slight increase by the BIR plus non-tax revenues because of privatization,” Diokno said.

As of end-May, government revenues are 43 percent of the full year target of P3.73 trillion. “I think for the year, yes we will surpass the target because of improved tax administration,” Diokno said. The Treasury will release tomorrow (Tuesday) the government spending data for the five-month period, as well as the complete fiscal performance. The administration has been trimming its budget since the start of the year. However, the Finance chief noted that state agencies have been slow in spending their budget allocation. “We are collecting more revenues, but some agencies are underspending. We are trying to pick up because of the pandemic,” Diokno said. “We still have time to adjust and I already brought this up to the Cabinet. It’s not the lack of money, it’s the ability to spend,” he added.

As of end-May, government agencies recorded a lower utilization rate of 91 percent from 93 percent in the five-month period in 2022 despite the increase in the releases of cash allocations.

Source: philstar.com