The government’s budget deficit widened to P642.8 billion in the first seven months of the year, Finance Secretary Ralph Recto said.
At the Senate subcommittee’s briefing on the proposed 2025 budget of the Department of Finance (DOF) and its attached agencies yesterday, Recto disclosed in his presentation that the deficit for January to July was higher by 7.2 percent or P43.2 billion compared to the P599.5 billion recorded in the same period a year ago.
While revenues outpaced expenditures in terms of year-on-year percentage growth, the annual nominal increase in expenditures is higher compared to that of revenues.
For the first seven months of 2024, revenue collections have reached P2.61 trillion, 14.8 percent or P335.1 billion higher than last year’s P2.27 trillion.
Of that amount, tax collections from the Bureaus of Internal Revenue (BIR) and Customs (BOC) grew by 11 percent reaching P2.24 trillion, while non-tax revenues recorded a 44.5 percent growth, totaling P368.8 billion, with the dividends from government-owned and -controlled corporations (GOCCs) contributing much to this increase, Recto said.
In particular, the BIR generated P1.68 trillion as of July, up 12.7 percent year-on-year, while the BOC raked in P535.9 billion, recording an increase of 5.8 percent.
“We are on track to meet our fiscal program for the year with the robust performances of the BIR, the BOC, the Bureau of the Treasury and our GOCCs,” Recto said.
“This strong revenue performance placed us among Asia’s top revenue-to-gross domestic product ratios at 17.1 percent for the first half of the year. And this is above our full-year target of 16.1 percent,” the finance chief added.
Meanwhile, expenditures for the seven-month period rose by 13.2 percent or P378.3 billion to P3.25 trillion from the P2.87 trillion a year ago.
Recto underscored to the members of the Senate that the DOF’s 2025 budget proposal prioritizes digitalization for efficient tax administration and public service, and assured that it adheres to the highest standards of fiscal discipline to deliver economic prosperity.
The DOF, its bureaus and its attached agencies are seeking a combined budget of P33.75 billion for next year, which is 20.8 percent higher than the 2024 General Appropriations Act level but represents only 0.5 percent of the government’s total proposed 2025 national budget.
The finance chief also assured the Senate with the DOF’s budget utilization track record.
In the first semester of 2024, the DOF has achieved an obligation rate of 70 percent translating to P40.85 billion in obligations from its total allotment of P58.36 billion.
Recto said the DOF ranks as the fourth highest among government agencies in terms of obligation rates, which is well above the entire government’s average obligation rate of 65.4 percent.
Moreover, the disbursement rate reached 90 percent, with P36.87 billion expended during this period.
