The national government’s budget deficit rose by more than half in October due to higher public spending that outpaced its strong revenue growth, the Bureau of the Treasury reported.
The Treasury bureau said on Friday, Nov. 25, that the Marcos administration incurred a P99.1 billion fiscal deficit in October, accelerating by 54 percent compared with P64.3 billion in the same month last year. Month-on-month, the budget deficit was 44 percent lower from P179.8 billion in September.
The hefty rise was driven by the 22 percent growth of expenditures, outpacing the government’s 14 percent expansion recorded in revenues.
According to the Treasury, total spending reached P387.9 billion in October, up from P317.4 billion a year earlier. Of that amount, interest payments cornered P33.2 billion.
“ was driven partly by higher National Tax Allotment of LGUs and subsidy releases for programs implemented by government corporations,” the Treasury bureau said.
“Disbursements for the social protection programs of the Department of Social Welfare and Development and road infrastructure projects of the Department of Public Works and Highways also contributed to the higher October 2022 spending,” it added.
Revenues, on the other hand, jumped from P253.1 billion to P288.9 billion.
Of the total, the Bureau of Internal Revenue’s (BIR) collection grew 19 percent to P261.9 billion from P219.4 billion, while the Bureau of Customs raised P75.1 billion, higher by 35 percent compared with P55.5 billion last year.
October’s budget deficit brought the national government’s 11-month tally to P1.112 trillion, still seven percent behind last year’s P1.203 trillion.
Revenues at end-October amounted to P2.946 trillion, up 18 percent from P2.49 trillion.
Tax collections accounted for 90 percent of the total, while non-tax revenue contributed the remaining 10 percent.
The BIR collection improved 12.5 percent to P1.919 trillion at end-October, while the Customs saw its revenue haul increased by 36 percent to P713.5 billion.
According to the Treasury, BIR’s collections accounted for 80 percent of its P2.4 trillion full-year target.
Earlier, the Customs bureau said that the agency already exceeded its 2022 target of P721.5 billion.
Last week, Finance Secretary Benjamin E. Diokno said the the fiscal deficit of the national government as a share of gross domestic product (GDP) settled at only 6.5 percent in the first nine-months of the year, way below the 7.6 percent full-year program.
“The government has ramped up efforts to maintain fiscal discipline through its revenue agencies, which have surpassed their programmed collections for 2022,” Diokno said.