The national government posted a wider budget deficit in February amid double-digit hike in expenditures.
A report released by the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) yesterday showed, the government incurred a budget shortfall of P164.7 billion in February 2024, higher compared to the P106.4 billion recorded the previous year.
The wider budget gap stemmed from the 22.14 percent year-over-year increase in expenditures, matched with the moderate revenue growth of 5.73 percent.
With the February turnout, the year-to-date fiscal balance reverted to a deficit of P76.7 billion, which is 26.56 percent higher relative to last year’s P60.6 billion budget gap.
Total revenue collections for February increased to P224 billion, surpassing last year’s P211.9 billion.
This pushed the year-to-date collection to P645.8 billion, outperforming the P560 billion actual collections recorded in the equivalent period last year by 15.32 percent.
The Bureau of Internal Revenue raised P138 billion in February, exceeding the previous year’s level by 6.65 percent.
This pushed the bureau’s cumulative collection to P446.4 billion, posting a double-digit year-on-year growth of 22.58 percent.
Collections by the Bureau of Customs improved by 12.19 percent to P70.6 billion in February from P62.9 billion in the same month in 2023.
This drove the agency’s aggregate collection for the two-month period to P144 billion, surpassing the level posted in the same period last year by 7.84 percent.
The BTr contributed P6.5 billion in revenues for February, slightly higher by 1.56 percent year-on-year, which was largely due to higher dividend remittances and national government share from the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp.’s income.
The resulting P23.2 billion cumulative BTr income as of end-February was lower by 3.8 percent from the P24.2 billion last year, mainly on account of lower interest income on national government deposits and BTr investments.
Meanwhile, total expenditures for February 2024 reached P388.7 billion, outperforming the previous year’s P318.2 billion, which the BTr said was driven by higher releases to local government units, as well as larger disbursements recorded in the Departments of Health and of Social Welfare and Development for their banner health and social protection programs, respectively.
Similarly, higher capital expenditures posted by the Department of Public Works and Highways contributed to the growth of February 2024 disbursements.
This boosted year-to-date expenditures to P722.5 billion, 16.42 percent higher than the end-February 2023 figure of P620.7 billion.
Net of interest payments, actual expenditures amounted to P340.9 billion in February, up by 19.97 percent year-on-year.
Similarly, year-to-date primary expenditures improved by 11.29 percent to P600.5 billion.
