Good news in Dips

The government attained a budget surplus of P15 billion in August, trimming the year-to-date budget deficit to a low of P3.4 billion.

       

The Department of Finance (DOF) said the lower budget deficit is due to higher revenue collection, which, as of August, amounted to P1.44 trillion, or 13 percent higher than the revenue haul for the same period last year.

       

The budget deficit of P3.4 billion is approximately 0.25 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP), much lower than the government target of 2 percent of GDP.

       

The government again stressed that underspending is not the cause of the lower budget deficit.

       

In terms of expenditures, the government disbursed a total of P1.44 trillion from January to August, or an increase of 11 percent from disbursements made for the same period last year. Of this amount, interest payments amounted only to P225.7 billion, or P24.7 billion lower than the amount allocated for interest payments.

       

The amount disbursed for interest payments constituted only 16 percent of the total expenditures, down from the 18-percent interest payments-to-expenditures ratio that was registered last year. This suggests that more cash was used for social and economic projects, instead of merely using it to pay off interest on the government’s debt.

       

“Sound fiscal management burnishes our credentials as one of Asia’s safest and strongest, a boon for our investment and growth prospects. The Filipino people benefit from a better fiscal position: The better we can resist the turns of the tides in volatile times, the better we can chart the path for our own future,” Finance Secretary Cesar V. Purisima said in a statement welcoming the low budget deficit.

       

In terms of revenues, the government collected P176.7 billion in August to bring the year-to-date collection to P1.44 billion.

       

The Bureau of Internal Revenue contributed the biggest amount, with year-to-date collection amounting to P962.6 billion, or an 8-percent growth from the agency’s collection for the same period last year.

       

The Bureau of Customs (BOC) raised P26.9 billion in August, increasing January-to-August figures to P235.6 billion. Even as the weighted average values of imported oil continue to sag with a 31-percent year-on-year decline, total BOC collections for January to August still beat year-ago figures by 1 percent, propelled by the 12-percent improvement in collections from nonoil commodities.

       

Income from the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) amounted to P2.7 billion for August, pushing the year-to-date total to P83.9 billion, or 11 percent higher than year-ago figures. As of August, the BTr had already exceeded its full-year target by 38 percent.

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