The national government may have fell short of its spending target as of end-July this year.
Latest Bureau of the Treasury data showed the government spent P2.797 trillion from January to July, surging by 8.26 percent from last year’s P2.584 trillion.
However, this is below the P2.959 trillion program for the period by 5.5 percent, based on the separate Treasury data presented by Finance Secretary Benjamin E. Diokno during the budget hearing in the House of Representatives.
On the other hand, state revenues in the seven-month period hit P2.036 trillion, exceeding the P1.92 trillion goal by 5.9 percent. Year-on-year, this was a 16.59-percent jump from P1.746 trillion in the same period in 2021.
As of end-July, the national government’s budget deficit or the difference between expenditures and revenues stood at P761 billion, which is almost 27 percent below its P1.036-trillion program.
This is also narrower than last year’s P837.3 billion actual budget deficit by 9.1 percent.
When revenues exceed expenditures, a budget deficit occurs. A smaller budget deficit could also mean less need for the government to borrow money to finance its spending requirements.
For July alone, budget deficit also narrowed to P86.8 billion this year from P121.2 billion last year as revenues outpaced expenditures.
For this year, the Cabinet-level Development Budget Coordination Committee expects a lower budget deficit at P1.65 trillion, or 7.6 percent of the country’s GDP.
Last year, the national government’s budget deficit soared to a new record-high of P1.67 trillion on the back of weaker revenue collection and increased spending amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
As a share of the Philippine economy last year, the budget deficit also soared to an unprecedented level of 8.61 percent.
The economic team aims to reduce the national government’s deficit-to-GDP ratio to 3 percent by the end of the term of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. by raising more for economic growth.