THE national government recorded a budget deficit of P90.245 billion for the first quarter of 2019, as expenditures outpaced revenues, but the gap was much lower than last year’s, according to data from the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr).
Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III told reporters in a text message that based on BTr’s report to the Department of Finance (DOF), the deficit of P90.245 billion for the first quarter is lower by 41 percent than the P152.171 billion posted in the same period for 2018.
This was also pointed out to be lower by 52 percent than the government’s programmed deficit for the quarter of P188.353 billion.
“For the period, revenues reached P687.7 billion, an increase of 11 percent, with BIR [Bureau of Internal Revenue] and BOC [Bureau of Customs] collections improving by 11 percent and 9 percent, respectively. Nontax [revenues] rose by 18 percent with higher dividends from remittances from BSP [Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas] and PDIC [Philippine Deposit Insurance Corp.] totaling P8.6 billion,” Dominguez said in the text message, quoting National Treasurer Rosalia V. de Leon.
Broken down, expenditures for the three-month period amounted to P777.990 billion, or an uptick of 1 percent compared to last year’s P771.964 billion, but shrank by 11 percent compared to the programmed expenditures for the period of P876.298 billion.
The government reported revenues of P687.745 billion for the period, which is higher by 11 percent compared to last year’s P619.793 billion, but lower by 0.03 percent from the programmed P687.945 billion.
“First-quarter expenditures were up only by 1 percent from last year with 8-percent contraction in March. Disbursements amounted to P778 billion or P98.3 billion lower than our internal program. Interest payment savings amounted to P7.3 billion. Cumulative deficit for quarter was P90.2 billion, P61.9 billion lower than last year,” de Leon added.
The BTr noted that it used its internal estimates in terms of the program figures cited, as the official monthly fiscal program for this year is still pending at the Department of Budget and Management (DBM).
“Looks like we didn’t spend a bit over P1 billion a day versus program,” Dominguez said.
The government has been operating under the 2018 reenacted budget since January this year, as the two chambers of Congress got embroiled in a standoff in the passage of the budget bill.
For the month of March alone, the government reported a deficit of P58.409 billion, which is lower by 47 percent from the March 2018 level of P110.818 billion.
Expenditures for the month outpaced revenues with P287.327 billion and P228.918 billion, respectively.
Disbursements of the government for the month showed an 8-percent contraction compared to last year’s P313.053 billion, while revenues posted an increase of 13 percent compared to the P202.360-billion revenues recorded in March 2018.
Drag on growth
Dominguez further pointed out that the underspending of about P98.3 billion for the period “will definitely be a drag on growth.”
Last month, the Development Budget Coordination Committee (DBCC), during its 175th meeting, scaled down the gross domestic product (GDP) growth target for the year to 6 to 7 percent, from the previous 7 to 8 percent.
It was also reported last month that the government incurred a budget deficit for February this year amounting to P76.4 billion, which is higher by 48 percent from last year’s P51.7-billion deficit.