The Marcos Jr. administration’s chief economic manager assured on Tuesday, April 7, that the Philippine government has enough resources to tackle the oil crisis head-on, given an improving fiscal position with rising revenues coupled with prudent spending on public goods and services.

“Our strong fiscal performance in February sets us up for a stable first quarter of this year. This acts as our safety net, giving us the resources to support the economy, especially during this time of uncertainty,” Finance Secretary Frederick D. Go said in a statement.

The Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) reported that the national government’s (NG) budget deficit slightly narrowed to ₱171.2 billion in February from ₱171.4 billion a year ago.

Revenue collections climbed by over two-fifths to ₱361.3 billion last February, as the non-tax take jumped 540.2 percent to ₱111.5 billion due to the earlier-than-usual remittances of state-run corporations’ 2025 dividends to the NG.

Government spending, meanwhile, rose by more than a fourth to ₱532.5 billion, with primary expenditures, or what are considered productive public spending, surging by over 29 percent to ₱483.6 billion and accounting for over 90 percent of total disbursements for the month.

As of end-February, the cumulative budget deficit narrowed by 94.4 percent to merely ₱5.8 billion from ₱103.1 billion a year ago, mainly as government expenditures took caution at the start of the year in the aftermath of the flood-control infrastructure scandal.

“With tax and non-tax revenues growing and expenditures kept targeted, we have successfully reduced our fiscal deficit,” said Go, who, as Department of Finance (DOF) chief, oversees the country’s fiscal health.

“This fiscal buffer allows us space to provide timely, targeted, and managed subsidies to help those most affected in our country by the Middle East event,” Go said, referring to government aid that would be deployed amid the ongoing state of national energy emergency.