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At a Glance
- Based on the Bureau of the Treasury report, the Marcos administration’s fiscal deficit from January to June this year was P551.7 billion, significantly lower by 28 percent than the set ceiling of P771.5 billion.
- The lower deficit was mainly attributed to reduced government expenditures of P2.412 trillion. That was 6.6 percent below compared to the planned spending of P2.582 trillion.
- However, the government had no trouble with revenue in the first semester, as it collected P1.86 trillion, exceeding the target of P1.811 trillion by 2.7 percent.
The national government spent less than planned in the first half of the year, resulting in a smaller budget deficit, while revenue collection exceeded expectations, data from the Bureau of the Treasury showed.
Based on the Treasury report on Friday, July 28, the Marcos administration’s fiscal deficit from January to June this year was P551.7 billion, significantly lower by 28 percent than the set ceiling of P771.5 billion.
According to the Treasury, the lower deficit was mainly attributed to reduced government expenditures of P2.412 trillion. That was 6.6 percent below compared to the planned spending of P2.582 trillion.
However, the government had no trouble with revenue in the first semester, as it collected P1.86 trillion, exceeding the target of P1.811 trillion by 2.7 percent.
Surpassing the initial target by a significant margin, non-tax revenues reached a total of P203.1 billion by the end of June, higher by 56 percent than the P130.1 billion goal.
Of that amount, P110.2 billion was contributed by various other government offices, while the Treasury bureau accounted for the remaining P93 billion.
Contrarily, tax revenue fell below the projected P1.681 trillion target by 1.4 percent, amounting to P1.657 trillion in the first half of the year.
Both the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) and other tax-collecting offices failed to meet their targets, with the main tax bureau falling short by 2.6 percent and other offices by 50 percent.
During the January to June period, the BIR collected P1.219 trillion, while other offices contributed P4.4 billion.
However, the Bureau of Customs exceeded its collection target of P420.7 billion, surpassing it by three percent and reaching P433.4 billion.
Furthermore, the national government’s budget deficit for the first half of the year saw a decline of 18 percent compared to the previous year’s P674.2 billion.
Government expenditures registered a slight increase of 0.42 percent from the previous year’s P2.402 trillion, while total revenue collections rose by 7.7 percent from P1.727 trillion.
In June alone, the national government recorded a fiscal deficit of P225.4 billion, a 4.6 percent increase in comparison to the P215.5 billion deficit in the same month of the preceding year.
Both expenditures and revenues encountered a decline in June, with public spending decreasing by 2.6 percent and income declining by 7.9 percent.
The Marcos administration is optimistic that the government’s budget deficit, as a proportion of the economy, will decrease by one percentage point next year due to the implementation of revenue-generating measures.
According to the Department of Finance (DOF), the government’s budget deficit as a percentage of the gross domestic product (GDP) is projected to narrow down to 5.1 percent in 2024, compared to this year’s 6.1 percent.
The DOF said this reduction is in line with the Marcos administration’s objective of gradually lowering the budget deficit ratio to its pre-pandemic levels of 3.0 percent of GDP by 2028. — Chino S. Leyco
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Credit belongs to: www.mb.com.ph
