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Philippines: Government fiscal surplus hits P52.8 B in April
MANILA, Philippines – The government generated a fiscal surplus of P52.8 billion in April as tax collections by the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) during the period boosted revenue, the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) reported yesterday.
“April has historically generated a surplus for the government as the deadline for the filing of income taxes falls within the month,” the BTr said.
However, the surplus was four percent lower than the P55 billion recorded in the same period last year.
From January to April, the national government’s fiscal deficit narrowed by 47 percent to P30.2 billion from the P57.5 billion registered in the same period in 2016.
According to Treasury data, total revenue generated for the month of April decreased four percent to P235.9 billion from P246.6 billion in April last year.
The BTr said lower revenue was generated in April as the growth in tax revenues was not able to outpace the decline in non-tax revenues.
Tax revenue during the month reached P219.9 billion, higher by four percent from a year ago, while earnings from non-tax collections dropped 54 percent to P16 billion.
The increase in tax revenue was contributed mainly by the BIR, which raised its collections by six percent to P187.7 billion from P177.7 billion a year ago.
The Bureau of Customs, meanwhile, saw a five-percent downturn in collections at P31.1 billion as compared to P32.7 last year.
Non-tax revenue, on the other hand, was weighed down by the lower income of the BTr, which slumped 75 percent year-on-year to end at P7.1 billion. The BTr attributed this to the timing of the remittance of dividends on the shares of stocks held by the government on state corporations.
Meanwhile, the national government’s disbursements during the period also declined four percent to P183.1 billion from P191.6 billion last year.
“Interest payments, which account for around seven percent of total expenditures, declined nine percent to P13.5 billion from P14.8 billion year-on-year as payments falling due at end-April were moved to May due to official holidays,” the BTr said.
Excluding interest payments from expenditures, the BTr said the government recovered from March’s primary deficit, reverting to a primary surplus of P66.3 billion for April. This is five percent lower than the amount recorded in April 2016.
Source: http://www.philstar.com/business/2017/05/27/1703856/government-fiscal-surplus-hits-p52.8-b-april