The national government’s budget deficit in May narrowed versus the year ago level as the growth in revenues overtook the marginal increase in expenditures.
According to a report of the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) yesterday, the government’s budget shortfall in May stood at P122.2 billion, 16.73 percent lower than the previous year’s deficit of P146.8 billion.
The BTr said the lower deficit for the period was brought about by the 9.35 percent increase in national government receipts versus the performance of expenditures which only inched up by 0.88 percent.
The cumulative budget gap for the first five months of the year amounting to P326.3 billion declined by 28.86 percent versus the previous year’s level of P458.7 billion.
Revenue collection in May 2023 reached P333.4 billion, surpassing the P304.9 billion recorded in the same month last year by 9.35 percent.
Total revenues as of the end-May stood at P1.59 trillion, a 10.83 percent increase from the previous year’s P1.44 trillion.
The Bureau of Internal Revenue’s (BIR) net collections amounted to P213.3 billion, down by 1.54 percent from the year-ago level of P216.6 billion.
The bureau’s overall collection for the five-month period increased by 9.95 percent to P1.05 trillion from last year’s P959 billion.
The Bureau of Customs (BOC) raised P77.9 billion for the month, topping the previous year’s outturn for the same period of P66.3 billion by 17.56 percent.
This improved the agency’s year-to-date performance by 12.1 percent over last year’s P320.5 billion to reach P359.3 billion.
The BTr’s income for the month swelled to P24.9 billion, more than twice the P8.9 billion posted in 2022.
The agency attributed the sharp increase to higher dividend and Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. remittances, investment income and interest on national government deposits.
BTr’s cumulative collection from January to May inched down 1.34 percent to P82.2 billion from the previous year’s P83.4 billion mainly due to lower dividend remittances which decreased by 44.79 percent year-on-year.
Other offices, which cover other non-tax revenues including privatization proceeds and fees and charges, contributed P16.8 billion in May, posting a robust annual growth of 49.78 percent.
Its year-to-date collection of P95.8 billion reflects a 48.95 percent growth from last year’s P64.3 billion.
Government spending of P455.7 billion for May 2023 marginally increased by 0.88 percent from last year’s P451.7 billion, as the lower national tax allotment shares of local government units and net lending assistance to government corporations weighed down the growth of disbursements, the BTr said.
“Net of these items, however, spending grew by 5.7 percent, mainly attributed to higher capital expenditures of the Department of Public Works and Highways, and Department of Transportation for their road and transport infrastructure projects, respectively, as well as larger personnel services expense with the release of the mid-year bonus of qualified government employees,” the BTr said.
Year-to-date disbursement as of end-May amounting to P1.92 trillion similarly showed a moderate annual expansion of 1.22 percent from the previous year’s P1.9 trillion.
In a separate statement, Finance Secretary Benjamin Diokno shared the government’s commitment to productive spending through investments in infrastructure that will boost economic growth.
“To ensure that our growth outpaces our debt, productive spending will be of paramount importance. Hence, infrastructure spending must be kept at five to six percent of gross domestic product annually or around P1.3 trillion to P2.3 trillion each year until 2028,” Diokno said.
