Budget gap widens to P51B

The budget deficit in July widened to P50.7 billion even as the Duterte administration, in its first month, failed to generate the target revenue and meet the programmed expenditure for the month.

At a hearing on the proposed P3.35-trillion 2017 national budget in the Senate Tuesday, Budget Secretary Benjamin E. Diokno told the senators he could not promise there would no longer be underspending even as the new administration was working to avoid it.

Bureau of the Treasury data released also Tuesday showed that while the deficit at the start of the second half was 57-percent higher than the P32.2 billion in July last year, it was 41-percent below the programmed budget deficit of P86.1 billion for the period.

In July, expenditure reached P220.9 billion, 28 percent off the programmed P307.9 billion that should have been spent on public goods and services. On a year-on-year basis, expenditure rose 5 percent from P210.7 billion a year ago “as a result of strong public spending,” the Department of Finance said in a statement.

The revenue generated in July hit P170.3 billion, down 5 percent from P178.5 billion last year and 23 percent off the P221-billion target. The DOF attributed the year-on-year drop to “reduced non-tax income from the operations of the Bureau of the Treasury and other offices.”

The tax take of the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) in July declined year-on-year to P117.4 billion, while Bureau of Customs’  (BOC) collection rose 3 percent year-on-year to P31 billion. The country’s two biggest tax-collection agencies both missed their targets by 28 percent.

At the end of the first seven months, the budget gap stood at P171 billion, 827-percent wider than the P18.5-billion deficit as of the end of July last year. The programmed deficit for the seven-month period was P178.9 billion.

End-July expenditure hit P1.442 trillion, up 12 percent from P1.283 trillion a year ago but 15 percent below the P1.694-trillion goal.

The revenue take during the first seven months inched up 1 percent to P1.271 trillion from P1.264 trillion last year, but 16 percent lower than the P1.515-trillion target.

The BIR’s collection grew 9 percent year-on-year to P900.9 billion, while those of the BOC rose 6 percent year-on-year to P221.5 billion. Their end-July revenues missed their targets by 20 percent and 21 percent, respectively.

“Tax collections of state revenue agencies continued to grow during the first seven months of 2016, helping the government finance its accelerated spending program to further boost the country’s economy and transform it into a more inclusive one,” National Treasurer Roberto B. Tan was quoted by the DOF as saying.