The national government’s budget deficit significantly shrank in July as the growth in revenues outpaced that of expenditures, according to a report released by the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr).
According to the BTr, the budget shortfall in July stood at P47.8 billion, 44.89 percent down from the P86.8 billion a year ago on the back of the 33.4 percent growth in revenue collection versus the 16.22 percent increase in government expenditures.
The year-to-date fiscal performance resulted in a cumulative budget gap of P599.5 billion, also down by 21.22 percent compared to the P761 billion shortfall registered in the first seven months of the previous year.
The national government registered a substantial growth in its July revenue collection reaching P411.7 billion from P308.6 billion a year ago, as both tax and non-tax collections improved for the period.
The positive outturn for the month drove the year-to-date collection to P2.27 trillion, reflecting an 11.58 percent increase over last year’s comparable performance of P2.04 trillion.
The Bureau of Internal Revenue’s collection reached P273.1 billion for July, representing a 38.37 percent increase over last year’s comparable outturn of P197.4 billion.
This growth translated into a year-to-date improvement of 12.21 percent, bringing the agency’s total collection to P1.49 trillion from P1.33 trillion a year ago.
Meanwhile, total collection by the Bureau of Customs (BOC) amounting to P73.1 billion reflected a 12.61 percent decline in July 2023 compared to the P83.6 billion raised for the same month last year.
Still, the BOC improved its cumulative collection to P506.5 billion, growing by 5.45 percent from the previous year’s accomplishment of P480.3 billion.
The national government’s disbursements increased to P459.5 billion in July this year from P395.4 billion in the same month in 2022, marking a growth of 16.22 percent due to higher disbursements recorded in the Department of Social Welfare and Development for its social protection programs as well as in the departments of Health and Agriculture for their respective programs.
The BTr said spending in July also expanded on the back of significant infrastructure outlays of the Department of Public Works and Highways for its road network development program and the Department of Transportation for rail transport projects.
The total year-to-date expenditures of P2.87 trillion posted a 2.66 percent growth over the spending performance for the same period last year of P2.8 trillion.
The BTr also reported that the second quarter and first half of the year deficit stood at 4.77 percent and 4.8 percent of gross domestic product, down from 6.62 percent and 6.53 percent last year, respectively.
Revenue effort for the first half of 2023 moderated to 16.19 percent from last year’s 16.73 percent.
Tax effort similarly slowed to 14.52 percent from 14.93 percent in the same period last year.
Lastly, expenditure effort went down to 21 percent from the previous year’s 23.26 percent.
