THE nation’s budget as of end-July ended as a shortfall, amounting to P18.5 billion, and attributed to higher disbursement in the preceding three-month period ending in June. The government quickly announced to spend more beginning the current quarter to achieve higher economic growth.
In the first half, the government’s fiscal position stood as a fiscal surplus, which quickly generated renewed speculation of another bout of underspending that could mean another period of subpar performance in terms of local output, measured as the gross domestic product (GDP), this year.
However, the Department of Finance (DOF) reported that the budget surplus as of end-June was due to higher revenue collection, and that the government had been ramping up on its disbursement program beginning the April-to-June period. Officials said this was reflected in the July fiscal data, which showed a budget deficit of P18.5 billion.
The DOF said that, in the first nine months, total expenditures amounted to P1.28 trillion, reflecting an increase of 11 percent from expenditures made during the same seven-month period last year.
Out of the amount, only P209.2 billion was used to pay interest on government debts.
This was only 16 percent of total expenditures for the period, down from 18 percent registered in the same period in 2014, implying that more money was freed to spend for projects that have social or economic impact.
“The pace of expenditure growth we are seeing has a clear positive trend since we adopted a whole-of-government approach to addressing underspending. Expenditures are on track to drive our growth for the third quarter. We will continue to unblock constraints to growth. It is encouraging to note that we are starting the quarter with a better footing on the public expenditure side,” Finance Secretary Cesar V. Purisima said.
The DOF said that alongside the growth in expenditures was the growth in revenue collection, the total of which, from January to July, amounted to P1.26 trillion, or a growth of 15 percent from total collections for the same period last year. The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) collected P118.2 billion in July, bringing year-to date collection of the BIR to P824.1 billion, or growth of 8 percent from last year.
The Bureau of Customs (BOC) raised P30.0 billion in July, bringing the January-to-July collection to P208.7-billion. This represented growth of only 2 percent from collections made during the same period last year. The DOF said BOC collections grew despite the 32-percent drop in the average price of imported oil.
Meanwhile, the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) contributed P14.2 billion in revenues in July, bringing its year-to-date contribution to P81.2 billion, or 15 percent higher than figures from a year ago. This means that the BTr already exceeded its P60.7-billion target for the full year.