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Philippines: Fiscal deficit narrows in September
MANILA, Philippines — The national government incurred a fiscal deficit of P36.9 billion in September as revenue performance improved and expenditures declined, latest data from the Bureau of the Treasury show.
September saw a 51 percent decline in fiscal deficit or P38.4 billion compared to last year.
Meanwhile, the January-September deficit of P213.1 billion was roughly steady from 2016’s P213.7-billion gap and was nevertheless 38 percent off a P345.2-billion program.
“The Q3 fiscal deficit of P58.6 billion is also lower than the P93.4 billion recorded in the same quarter last year,” the Treasury said in a news release on Monday.
A deficit occurs when government’s expenditures exceed the revenue that it generates.
Total revenues for September posted a year-on-year growth of 21 percent or P34.1 billion to P200.1 billion. Year-to-date, collections surged by 9 percent or P154.7 billion to P1,801.5 billion over the same period last year.
Both key state revenue collectors saw significant improvements.
The Bureau of Internal Revenue raked in P141.4 billion in September, 25 percent higher than the same month in last year.
This gave BIR’s overall collections an 11 percent year-on-year increase to P1.3 trillion for the first nine months of 2017.
Meanwhile, the Bureau of Customs clocked a 21 percent year-on-year growth with actual collections of P40.3 billion in September.
The BOC’s collections went up to P323.8 billion for the first three quarters, sustaining a 12 percent year-to-date surge.
However, the BOC is still lagging behind by 4 percent against its year-to-date revenue program of P336.9 billion.
On the other hand, the government’s expenditures in September narrowed by two percent or P4.3 billion to P237 billion from the same comparable period in 2016.
This brought January-September’s total disbursements to P2,014.5 billion, 8 percent or P154.1 billion higher, year-on-year, but still 6 percent short of the P2,137.9 billion target.
Netting out interest payments from expenditures, the state registered a P10.5 billion primary deficit for the month of September—a sharp decline compared to the P42.7 billion primary deficit recorded in 2016.
On the other hand, the cumulative primary surplus of P35.9 billion nearly achieved the same level as in 2016.
The World Bank early this month trimmed anew its growth forecast for the Philippines to 6.6 percent this year and 6.7 percent in 2018 and 2019, citing a slower-than-expected implementation of public investment projects which stalls the growth in spending.
“The delay in the planned government infrastructure program has contributed to slower growth in investment spending, thus softening the growth prospect for the year,” the World Bank said.
Source: http://www.philstar.com/business/2017/10/24/1751990/fiscal-deficit-narrows-september