Govt budget deficit widens 23.8% to P869.2B
The government reported on Wednesday a 23.8 percent widening of its budget deficit to P869.2 billion for the first eight months of the year, which, it said, was still within the full-year program for 2025.
The Bureau of Treasury (BTr) said the deficit grew from P697 billion in the corresponding eigh-month period last year.
The BTr said in a statement the deficit was “well within the P1.56 trillion revised full-year program for FY 2025 and accounting for only 55.66 percent of the target.”
The eight-month collection revenue hit P3.08 trillion, a 3.07 percent increase from P3 trillion last year, it said.
“Taxes made up 90.33 percent (P2.79 trillion) of the year-to-date figure, surpassing the previous year’s performance by 8.92 percent,” the Treasury said.
The BIR remained the primary contributor, raising P2.14 trillion, up by 11.44 percent.
“The robust performance was driven by higher corporate income tax, personal income tax, value-added tax, excise tax on tobacco, percentage tax on banks/financial institutions, and documentary stamp tax,” the agency said.
The Bureau of Customs (BOC) generated P621.4 billion, up 1.14 percent from the previous year, which the Treasury said was driven, among others, by the BOC’s intensified efforts against illicit trade.
Non-tax revenues reached P298.3 billion, equivalent to 97.33 percent of the revised full-year program of P306.5 billion, the Treasury said.
“It is important to note that non-tax revenues last year were boosted by one-off big remittances, making the (year-on-year) comparison higher than usual,” it said.
The Treasury contributed P189.3 billion of the non-tax revenue, 63.46 percent of the total, which already exceeded the upward-adjusted revised full-year program of P179.2 billion.
The agency said that its “overperformance” was driven by higher interest earnings on national government (NG) deposits, dividend remittances, income from managed funds, and the NG share from the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation’s (PAGCOR) and the Manila International Airport Authority’s (MIAA) profits.
Disbursement for the first eight months, meanwhile, was recorded at P3.95 trillion, equivalent to 65.01 percent of the P6.08 trillion revised full-year 2025 program.
Of the total, 85.23 percent (P3.37 trillion) was primary expenditure (net of interest payments), surpassing the January-August 2024 outturn by 5.95 percent.
Meanwhile, interest payments over the same period amounted to P584.1 billion, or 14.77 percent of total disbursements,” the agency said.
The Treasury, meanwhile, said the primary surplus for the period was recorded at P285 billion, up from P187.5 billion last year.
This “demonstrates the government’s commitment to channeling resources toward priority programs and growth-enhancing expenditures that uplift the lives of Filipinos,” the agency said.
