The government has reverted to a budget surplus of P29.9 billion in August, after incurring small fiscal deficit of P1.8 billion in July. This brings the year-to-date budgetary shortfall to only P25.9 billion.
The Department of Finance (DOF) announced that the P29.9-billion budget excess in August was due to higher revenue collection during the month and not to any cutback or decrease in spending which, in fact, grew by 6 percent.
Revenue collection amounted to P170 billion in August, or a 10-percent increase from the revenues reported in August 2013.
The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) collected P127.6 billion during the month, which was below the target for the month but P9.5 billion higher than collections posted in August 2013.
The Bureau of Customs (BOC) collected P29.1 billion, maintaining its monthly double-digit growth with an 11-percent improvement from collections in August last year.
The Bureau of the Treasury’s (BTr) income amounted to P5.3 billion in August, which was a huge 54-percent improvement from income reported in August last year because of higher investment income and better dividend collection for the month.
Other revenue-generating offices of the government, the BTr said, contributed P8 billion in August.
Government spending for the month amounted to P140.1 billion, which was a 5-percent improvement from government spending made a year earlier. Year-to-date government expenditures added up to P1.296 trillion, or 6 percent higher than expenditures made in the first eight months last year.
“I am pleased to report that the national government has posted a budget surplus of P29.9 billion in August, wider than the year-ago surplus, once again resulting from fast-paced expansion of revenue collections for the month. This brought the year-to-date budget balance to a deficit of P25.9 billion, well within the program and narrower than comparable figures a year ago,” Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima said in a statement. He pointed out that interest payments as a percentage of government expenditures have continued to decline, suggesting that more cash was freed up for social and infrastructure projects.
As a portion of expenditures, interest payments from January to August 2014 constituted only 18 percent of the total government expenditures. This ratio was down from 20.1 percent of the total government expenditures allocated for interest payments in 2013.
“I would also like to point out that our General Government debt has continued to show improvement. As of March 2014, General Government debt was recorded at P4.49 trillion or 38.1 percent of GDP [gross domestic product] , lower than the March 2013 level of 38.5 percent. We have lessened our exposure to foreign currency risk by reducing the foreign component of the debt to 42.1 percent from 43.4 percent as of March last year,” Purisima said.