Budget deficit narrowed to P3.5B in Jan.

The budget deficit narrowed to P3.5 billion in January as government spending rebounded while revenue growth slowed from a year ago.

The deficit at the start of the year was 46 percent smaller than the P6.5 billion posted in the same month last year.

The government had programmed a deficit of 2 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP) by the end of the year, equivalent to P298.6 billion, as a bigger amount must be disbursed for public goods and services to sustain robust economic growth.

In January, expenditures rose 7 percent to P185.7 billion from P173.1 billion a year ago, reversing the 5.4-percent year-on-year decline in spending in the same month last year.

Interest payments slid by 11 percent year-on-year to P45.6 billion.

“We are pleased to hear of the 7-percent growth in expenditures in January, even as interest payments went down. The fact that we kicked off this year’s expenditure plan on a positive note can only make us optimistic that 2016 will be a good year for public spending—especially considering the public financial management reforms we’ve initiated since 2010 have had more time to take root in the bureaucracy,” Budget Secretary Florencio B. Abad said.

Total revenue, meanwhile, rose 9 percent to P182.2 billion from P166.7 billion a year ago. This was slower than the 11-percent year-on-year growth posted in January last year.

The tax take of the Bureau of Internal Revenue grew 7 percent to P129.7 billion in January from P121.1 billion a year ago.

The Bureau of Customs’ collections of import duties and other taxes climbed 6 percent to P31.1 billion from P29.4 billion last year. Ben O. de Vera