The national government’s (NG) fiscal deficit narrowed sharply in October amid the strong performance of state collections.
The Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) yesterday reported the deficit last month fell by 65.27 percent year-on-year to P34.4 billion.
This was underscored by a notable 33.56 percent rise in revenue collections, outpacing government expenditure growth of 8.32 percent.
The total aggregate budget deficit for the 10-month period amounting to P1.02 trillion similarly showed an 8.45 percent contraction from the P1.11 trillion posted in the corresponding period last year and is at 67.88 percent of the P1.5 trillion 2023 program.
Total revenue for October reached P385.8 billion, representing a double-digit expansion from last year’s comparable collection.
Cumulative collections from January to October also increased to P3.22 trillion, 9.41 percent better than the previous year’s achievement for the same period.
The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) saw a substantial improvement of 46.94 percent year-on-year in its October collection of P274.4 billion.
The BTr reported that the higher outturn for the period was attributed to the third quarter remittance of the value-added tax returns due on October 25, 2023, by virtue of Memorandum Circular No. 5-2023 which was implemented starting January 2023.
BIR also managed to grow its year-to-date collection from the previous year by 11.11 percent to P2.13 trillion, which is 80.8 percent of the P2.64 trillion goal for the year.
The Bureau of Customs’ October collection amounted to P77.9 billion, up by 3.83 percent from the 2022 comparable outcome.
This drove the agency’s overall January to October collection to P738.3 billion, making up 84.46 percent of the P874.2 billion 2023 target and improving by 3.47 percent from last year’s comparable performance.
Meanwhile, NG expenditures for October jumped by 8.32 percent year-on-year to P420.2 billion.
According to the BTr, the expansion was mainly attributed to higher capital expenditures from the implementation of road infrastructure projects of the Department of Public Works and Highways, modernization program of the Department of National Defense and foreign-assisted rail transport projects of the Department of Transportation.
Larger interest payments, as well as maintenance and other operating expenses, particularly the expenditures of the Commission on Elections related to the conduct of the Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections, also contributed to the higher spending outturn.
However, the BTr said the growth of disbursements was weighed down by the lower National Tax Allotment shares of local government units and the timing of subsidy releases to government corporations.
Overall, disbursements from January to October reached P4.24 trillion, exhibiting a 4.52 percent increase from last year, and is equivalent to 81.12 percent of the P5.23 trillion 2023 program.
