Philippine budget deficit narrows

The Philippine national government’s budget deficit shrank by 40 percent to P72 billion in August 2022 from P121 billion in August 2021.

Also, the government’s spending beyond its earnings narrowed by 13 percent to P833 billion in January-August this year from P958 billion in the same period last year.

Preliminary data from the Bureau of the Treasury show that in August, expenses grew by 6.5 percent year-over-year to P404.5 billion from P380.2 billion.

This was significantly outpaced by growth in revenues, clocked at 28.3 percent to P332.4 billion from P259.3 billion.

Collections at both the Bureau of Internal Revenue and the Bureau of Customs saw double-digit surges at 23 percent and 48 percent, respectively