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Philippines: Govt budget deficit set to double to P147B in July
Expenditure allowed to surge 50.4% on-yr to P332.36B – DoF
The Philippine government’s budget programmed for July is expected to end at a deficit of P147.73 billion, swelling from June and more than doubling the year-earlier shortfall, with expenditures set to far exceed revenues, the Department of Finance (DoF) said in a report on Monday.
The fiscal gap for the month was allowed to widen by 191 percent from P50.66 billion a year earlier, according to DoF data obtained by reporters.
The budget ceiling was also raised from June – by 62.5 percent from P90.87 billion.
The government targeted an 8.4 percent increase in total revenue collections to P184.62 billion in July from P170.25 billion a year earlier.
Collections by the Bureau of Internal Revenue are expected to show an 11.7 percent rise year-on-year to P131.30 billion from P117.44 billion, while Bureau of Customs collections are seen growing 26.6 percent from P30.98 billion.
Non-tax revenues, however, could plunge 37.5 percent year-on-year to P12.66 billion on lower revenues from the Bureau of Treasury, fees and charges, as well as other income, including foreign grants.
The Treasury bureau’s income is expected to drop to P3.37 billion in July from P9.06 billion a year earlier.
Income on fees and charges is also allowed to decline to as much as P3.79 billion, while the government expects lower revenue from other sources of income, including foreign grants, to P5.50 billion for the month.
Expenditure to rise on LGU allotments, subsidies, etc
Expenditure, on the other hand, is programmed to swell 50.4 percent to P332.36 billion in July from P220.91 billion a year earlier, with the bulk, or P287.35 billion, going into allotments to local governments, tax expenditures, subsidy, equity, net lending and others.
Data showed that interest payments could widen by 92.02 percent year-on-year to P45.01 billion in July.
Yr-to-date deficit
With the P147.73 deficit target in July, the cumulative budget gap for the first seven months of the year is expected to reach P302.209 billion, or 76 percent wider than the P170.98 billion recorded a year earlier, but 37 percent below the full-year target deficit.
The national government has set a full-year budget deficit target of P482.08 billion for 2017, equivalent to 3 percent of the country’s gross domestic product.
Source: http://www.manilatimes.net/govt-budget-deficit-set-to-double-to-p147b-in-july/341755/