THE government posted a fiscal surplus of P52.8 billion in April, a reversal of the deficit of P61.5 billion a month ago, as expenditures declined 4 percent to P183.1 billion from P191.6 billion a year ago, the Bureau of the Treasury said Friday.
The April surplus was 4 percent lower than the P55-billion surplus in the same month last year.
“Contributing to the surplus was the historically-generated surplus for the government in April as the deadline for the filing of income taxes fell within the month. This brought deficit in the first four months to P30.2 billion, lower by P27.3 billion than the P57.5-billion deficit a year ago,” the Treasury said.
Revenues in April reached P235.9 billion, down 4 percent or P10.8 billion from a year ago. “Tax revenues managed to perform relatively well as receipts were higher by P8.1 billion but were fully offset by non-tax revenues which dropped by P18.9 billion,” the Treasury said.
The April 2017 revenue brought total collections from January to April to P768.3 billion, up 6 percent or P42.7 billion from the level in the same period in 2016.
The higher tax revenue mainly came from the Bureau of Internal Revenue, which raised collections by 6 percent, or an additional P10.0 billion in April 2017, to P187.7 billion. BIR’s total collection of P558.1 billion in the four-month period increased 10 percent or P50.2 billion from a year ago.
Bureau of Customs collected P31.1 billion but posted a contraction for the month as receipts declined 5 percent or P1.6 billion year-on-year. The year-to-date collection of P135.3 billion, however, is still up 10 percent compared with last year’s.
Non-tax revenues, meanwhile, were weighed down by the lower income of the Bureau of the Treasury in April 2017. The P7.1-billion income of BTr during the period is P20.8 billion or 75 percent lower than the April 2016 level, mainly on the timing of dividends on shares of stocks held by the government.
“Most GOCCs remitted dividends in April last year whereas 2017 collections are just coming in. As of 18 May 2017, around P16.8 billion in dividends have been forwarded to be reflected as part of end-May figures. Consequently, the January to April BTr income of P30.1 billion is down 43 percent from a year ago,” the Treasury said.
Non-tax revenues from other offices showed year-on-year growth of 29 percent for April totaling P8.9 billion, bringing year-to-date revenue to P38.8 billion for a 9-percent improvement over the 2016 level.
Disbursements of the national government in April declined 4 percent to P183.1 billion from P191.6 billion a year ago. This brought disbursements in the first four months to P798.4 billion from P783.1 billion a year ago.
Interest payments, which account for around 7 percent of total expenditures, declined 9 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.
“Steady growth for the period ensured that year-to-date spending is still higher than last year’s, reaching P798.4 billion and up 2 percent year-on-year,” the agency said.
