The Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) reported that the National Government’s (NG) budget deficit for the first quarter of 2023 declined by 14.51 percent compared to the same period in 2022 on the back of increased revenue collections during the first three months of the year. The cumulative budget gap for the first quarter of 2023 stood at PHP270.9 billion.

Year-to-date (YTD) revenue collections from January to March 2023 reached PHP818.7 billion, surpassing the revenue collections in the same period last year by 4.38 percent or PHP34.3 billion.

Tax revenues accounted for 87.89 percent or PHP719.5 billion, while non-tax revenues made up 12.11 percent or PHP99.2 billion.

The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR)’s collection of PHP505.2 billion topped the previous year’s record for the same period by 0.48 percent or PHP2.4 billion.

The Bureau of Customs (BOC)’s overall collections of PHP213.8 billion as of end-March saw a 13.40 percent or PHP25.3 billion increase from last year’s period.

However, BTr revenues declined by 19.94 percent or PHP9.7 billion from the previous year’s PHP48.7 billion due to the high base effect of dividend remittances in 2022.

“The government is constantly working to find ways to improve the efficiency and transparency of our collection systems to achieve our fiscal targets,” said Finance Secretary Benjamin Diokno.

Non-tax collections from other offices (including privatization proceeds and fees and charges), which increased to PHP22.0 billion in March 2023 from PHP16.7 billion last year, led to a higher cumulative revenue of PHP60.1 billion, rising by 58.59 percent or PHP22.2 billion year-over-year.