January to July Fiscal Deficit at P105 billion

  • Post category:News

9 September 2013 Manila, Philippines – The National Government incurred a P53 billion deficit in July as higher government operating expenses paced higher than expected revenue collections. The July deficit grew 36% year-on-year compared to the P39 billion shortfall for July last year. Despite this, the end-July deficit amounting to P105 billion remained broadly in line with the government program of P144 billion for the first three quarters of the year.

Revenue Performance

Revenue collections reached P145 billion in July, increasing 17% year-on-year. Government revenues as of end-July amount to P984 billion, an 11% increase over comparable 2012 figures. Tax revenues account for 93.1% of the total, registering P875.5 billion for the first seven months of the 2013.

For July, Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) collections increased 20% year-on-year to reach P100 billion, while collections from the Bureau of Customs (BOC) hit P28 billion, a 13% increase over July 2012 figures. The Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) and other government offices contributed P7.9 billion and P8.9 billion, reflecting 3% and 15% year-on-year growth in collections, respectively.

Year-to-date revenue collections have risen, with BIR, BOC and other agencies growing collections by 15%, 3%, and 11%, respectively. Btr income for the period Jan-July slipped 1% compared to last year due to lower interest rates on BTr deposits with the Bangko Sentral.

Expenditures

Actual disbursements for July accelerated to P198 billion, increasing 22% from P163 billion a year ago. Total disbursements for Jan-July 2013 amounted to P1,089 billion, narrowing the year-to-date expenditure shortfall. Interest payments reached P54 billion for the month, bringing the end-period total to P211 billion – both lower than government estimates. Interest payments continued to show improvements it accounted for 27% of disbursements for July compared to 32% a year ago. Year-to-date figures reflect a similar trend at 19%, down from 21% for the same period in 2012

Primary Surplus/ (Deficit)

Net of interest payments, the National Government managed to achieve a P288 million primary surplus for July despite higher disbursements. Year-to-date, the P106 billion primary surplus is 17% lower than the P128 billion registered over the same period in 2012.