REINING in spending coupled with a constant collection pace allowed the national government to post a budget surplus of P44.5 billion for January.
Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) data revealed the budget surplus for the first month of the year rose by 337 percent if compared to the P10.2-billion budget surplus posted in January 2018.
The surplus is being attributed to growth in revenues for the month of P256.7 billion, a growth of 7 percent from the P238.9 billion collected in the same period last year. Expenditures contracted also by 7 percent to P212.2 billion if compared to the P228.7 billion incurred in January 2018.
“Basically, it’s spending; we see the decline in spending. While on the revenue collection; the collections of both the Bureau of Internal Revenue [BIR] and the Bureau of Customs [BOC] remain efficient,” according to National Treasurer Rosalia V. de Leon.
“There’s a significant impact of the reenactment of the
budget on spending particularly on the new expenditures and the capital
outlays, including of course the
salary adjustments,” de Leon added. Tax revenues accounted for 92 percent
of the January collections amounting to P235 billion; the remaining 8 percent,
or P21.8 billion, were from nontax sources.
Revenue collections from the BIR amounted to P185.1 billion in January, posting a 5-percent increase from last year’s P175.6 billion, “partially due to the increased excise tax on some products identified under the Train [Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion] law.”
Furthermore, BOC collections hit P48.4 billion or a growth of 18 percent over last year’s P40.8 billion, “on the back of process improvements implemented by the agency, such as tighter monitoring of imports and proper valuation of goods.”
Meanwhile, nontax revenues generated by the BTr for the month amounted to P9 billion, which is 12 percent higher compared with its 2018 performance of P8.1 billion. Collections from other offices for January amounted to P12.8 billion; January 2018’s was at P12.7 billion.
Meanwhile, interest payments for January grew by 6 percent to P45.9 billion, from P43.5 billion last year. Netting out interest payments, primary expenditures recorded a decline with P166.3 billion in January, which is 10-percent lower than the P185.2 billion outturn in the same month last year.
“The contraction in government spending resulted largely from the delays in the implementation of new government projects and salary adjustments due to the deferred passage of the 2019 GAA [General Appropriations Act],” the BTr said.
Net of interest payments, the government’s primary surplus for the first month of the year stood at P90.5 billion, 68 percent or P36.7 billion larger than last year’s P53.7 billion level.