9-month budget gap way below P229.5-B target

The national government posted a budget deficit of P22.1 billion in September, almost a third lower than the programmed deficit for the month, as public sector spending remained below program.

At the end of the first nine months, the deficit stood at a mere P25.5 billion, an amount dwarfed by the programmed P229.5-billion deficit for the period as well as the P31.1 billion registered a year ago, the latest cash operations report released yesterday by the Bureau of the Treasury. This means the government has not been spending on vital public goods and services as much as it should.

However, Budget Secretary Florencio B. Abad told reporters that expenditures were seen to further accelerate in the fourth quarter as more projects would be rushed ahead of the holiday and election seasons.

The deficit last September was 31-percent lower than the program of P32.3 billion, although four times bigger than the P5.2 billion posted in the same month last year.

Expenditures that month grew 17 percent to P186.3 billion from P159.8 billion a year ago to register its fourth-straight month of double-digit growth as well as a sustained increase in monthly disbursements since February, the Treasury noted.

Government spending in September, however, was below the program of P207.3 billion.

“The third quarter and year-to-date spending increased by 19 percent and 12 percent from last year, but lags behind program by 15 percent and 14 percent, respectively,” the Treasury added.

End-September expenditures reached P1.63 trillion, higher than last year’s P1.46 trillion, but below the nine-month program of P1.91 trillion.

Abad said government spending in the fourth quarter was expected to be “better” than the third-quarter performance.

“We’ve dealt with many of the implementation and policy bottlenecks [in spending] as well as the institutional weaknesses, and then you have the election season and Christmas season, so all of these will converge and push the numbers further,” the Budget chief explained. Ben O. de Vera