The national government posted a wider surplus in April amid the strong collection performance during the said month, data released by the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) showed.
According to the BTr’s latest cash operations report, the government recorded a P66.8 billion budget surplus in April 2023, far higher compared to the previous year’s surplus of P4.9 billion for the same month as the acceleration in revenues outstripped the growth of expenditures.
The cumulative deficit, on the other hand, decreased by 34.57 percent to P204.1 billion versus the budget gap incurred during the same four-month period last year of P311.9 billion.
Collections in April stood at P440.7 billion, growing by 26.66 percent on a year-over-year basis.
Similarly, the resulting year-to-date revenue for the January to April period improved to P1.26 trillion, posting an annual growth of 11.22 percent.
The Bureau of Internal Revenue’s (BIR) April collection significantly improved to P336 billion, 40.24 percent higher relative to the level posted in the same month a year ago.
“Growth for the period was attributed to the implementation of Revenue Memorandum Circular No. 5-2023 in line with Section 37 of the TRAIN (Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion) Law, which requires the filing of Quarterly VAT (value-added tax) Returns within 25 days following the close of each taxable quarter wherein the transaction was recorded,” the BTr said.
BIR total collections as of end-April amounting to P841.2 billion likewise outperformed the previous year’s outturn for the equivalent period by 13.31 percent.
Collections from the Bureau of Customs (BOC) registered modest annual growth of 2.87 percent to P67.6 billion.
BOC’s year-to-date collection reached P281.4 billion, 10.68 percent better from the previous year’s level.
Meanwhile, the national government’s disbursements for April grew by 9 percent year-on-year to P373.9 billion, owing mainly to the subsidy release to the Philippine Health Insurance Corp., larger capital expenditures of the Department of Public Works and Highways and the Department of Transportation, as well as higher interest payments for the month, the BTr said.
The spending growth was tempered by the decline in transfers to local government units due to lower national tax allotment shares.
Total expenditures for the four-month period reached P1.46 trillion, inching up by 1.33 percent on an annual basis.
