THE national government’s budget deficit narrowed in February as expenditures posted an annual decline due to the base effect of the internal revenue allotment (IRA) of local government units (LGUs) being released in February last year, according to Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) data.
The BTr said yesterday the government posted a deficit of P37.6 billion in February after reporting a budget surplus in January.
However, the shortfall for the month of February was barely half the P76.4 billion deficit last year, narrowing the year-to-date budget deficit to P14.6 billion, lower by 54.30 percent from the P31.8 billion posted a year ago.
February expenditures stood at P244.4 billion, down by 12.22 percent, as the IRA of LGUs for January 2019 was released in February last year, as well as lower interest payments.
Net of the said amount, disbursement in February grew by 6.04 percent year-on-year, the BTr said.
Total expenditures as of end-February increased to P516 billion, beating last year’s P490.7 billion outturn by 5.17 percent.
Meanwhile, revenues for the month rose by 2.35 to P206.8 billion, with tax collection making up 92 percent of the total.
Total revenues for the end-February period amounting to P501.5 billion also grew by 9.29 percent versus the previous year.
The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) collected P142.2 billion for the month, reflecting a 4.79 percent increase over similar collections in February 2019.
The BIR’s revenue performance as of end-February likewise improved by 5.08 percent to P337.1 billion.
The Bureau of Customs (BOC) raised P44.8 billion in February, a modest increase of 1.33 percent from last year’s collection.
“The slow growth for the month was mainly due to the slowdown of importation from China amid the coronavirus outbreak,” the BTr said.
Nevertheless, the agency’s cumulative collection of P100.7 billion for the first two months of the year also surpassed the previous year’s level by 8.74 percent.
