Gov’t revenues, expenses jump

The government exceeded both its expenditure and revenue targets in November, resulting in a budget deficit of P8.6 billion.

The latest Bureau of the Treasury data released yesterday showed that government spending on public goods and services last month grew by a tenth to P252.1 billion from P228.4 billion in the same period last year.

Actual expenditures in November surpassed the P249.9-billion target for the month.

Tax and non-tax revenues, meanwhile, jumped by a faster 16 percent to P243.5 billion from P209.2 billion a year ago.

Total revenues in November were higher than the P235.2-billion goal.

Higher collections

The tax take of the country’s two biggest collection agencies and other revenue offices climbed 15 percent year-on-year to P228.3 billion.

The Bureau of Internal Revenue’s collections in November rose 14 percent year-on-year to P179.4 billion, while the Bureau of Customs’ haul of import duties and other taxes increased 15 percent to P46.4 billion.

Non-tax revenues of the Bureau of the Treasury that month inched up by 2 percent year-on-year to P4.3 billion “mainly due to higher collections of foreign exchange risk cover and guarantee fees, which offset the decline in bond sinking fund/securities stabilization fund income and the national government’s share in airport terminal fees,” it explained in a statement.

Revenue growth

Also, non-tax revenues from other offices increased by 51 percent at P11 billion for the month on the back of higher remittances of fees and charges from various offices, the Treasury added.

As the revenue growth outpaced the jump in expenditures, the deficit in November narrowed by 55 percent from P19.1 billion in the same month last year.

The actual deficit was also below the P14.8-billion program for the month.

From January to November, the national government posted a budget deficit of P243.5 billion, 4-percent wider than the P235.2-billion deficit in the first 11 months of last year.

End-November expenditures rose by a tenth to P2.49 trillion from P2.27 trillion a year ago, while revenues grew also by a faster 11 percent to P2.25 trillion from a year ago’s P2.03 trillion.

Tax revenues mainly from the BIR and the BOC jumped 12 percent year-on-year to P2.05 trillion.

“Total BIR collections as of end-November hit P1,62 trillion, 12-percent higher than the amount collected over the same period in 2016. Inclusion of tax refunds brings the year-to-date total to P1.63 trillion,” the Treasury said.

Year-to-date, BOC revenue has grown 14 percent over the 2016 level to P413.1 billion and the total BOC collection for the year amounts to P415.7 billion after the tax refund for January to November is taken into account, according to the Treasury.

While the Treasury’s 11-month revenue declined 9 percent year-on-year to P86.5 billion, the bureau already exceeded the full-year program of P58.6 billion by 48 percent, it noted.

Non-tax revenues from other offices also grew 2 percent to P109.5 billion as of November.

In the fourth quarter, the government must incur a budget deficit of P136.9 billion or 28.4 percent of the P482.1-billion deficit program for 2017, equivalent to 3 percent of gross domestic product.

Last week, the Cabinet-level Development Budget Coordination Committee kept the 3-percent-of-GDP deficit ceiling from 2017 to 2022.