The government’s budget deficit fell 16.7 percent in May to P122.2 billion from P146.8 billion a year ago as the 9.35-percent growth in revenues outpaced the 0.88-percent increase in expenditures, the Bureau of the Treasury said Tuesday.
This brings the cumulative budget gap for the first five months of the year to P326.3 billion, lower by 28.86 percent or P132.4 billion than a year ago.
Revenue collection for May 2023 reached P333.4 billion, surpassing the P304.9 billion recorded in the same month last year by 9.35 percent or P28.5 billion.
Moreover, total revenue as of the end-May stood at P1.6 trillion, 10.83 percent higher than a year ago.
“This growth was attributed to improvements in both tax and non-tax collections, which grew by 9.71 percent and 20.56 percent year on year, respectively,” the agency said.
The Bureau of Internal Revenue’s net collections reached P213.3 billion, down slightly by 1.54 percent or P3.3 billion for the month. Meanwhile, its overall collection for the five-month period increased by 9.95 percent or P95.5 billion to P1.1 trillion from last year’s P959.0 billion.
The Bureau of Customs raised P77.9 billion for the month, topping the previous year’s outturn for the same period by 17.56 percent or P11.6 billion. This improved the agency’s cumulative performance by 12.10 percent or P38.8 billion over last year to reach P359.3 billion.
TheTreasury’s income for the month swelled to P24.9 billion, more than twice the level posted in 2022.
“The sharp increase was attributable to higher dividend and PAGCOR remittances, investment income, and interest on national government deposits,” it said.
Meanwhile, the Treasury’s cumulative collection from January to May declined to P82.2 billion from the previous year’s P83.4 billion mainly due to lower dividend remittances which decreased by 44.79 percent year on year.
On the other hand, government spending of P455.7 billion for May 2023 marginally increased by 0.88 percent or P4.0 billion from last year’s P451.7 billion, as the lower National Tax Allotment shares of local government units and net lending assistance to government corporations weighed down the growth of disbursements.
Net of these items, however, spending grew by 5.7 percent or P20.8 billion, mainly attributed to higher capital expenditures of the Department of Public Works and Highways, and Department of Transportation for their road and transport infrastructure projects, respectively, as well as larger personnel services expense with the release of the mid-year bonus of qualified government employees.
The year-to-date disbursement as of end-May amounting to P1.9 trillion similarly showed a moderate year on year expansion of 1.22 percent or P23.2 billion.
Primary spending (net of interest payments) which comprised 90.93 percent of total expenditure for the month, amounted to P414.32 billion, lower by 0.85 percent compared to its level in the previous year partly due to lower NTA releases.
Meanwhile, the resulting cumulative primary expenditures for the five-month period improved by 0.84 percent or P14.1 billion to P1.7 trillion.
Total interest payments for May totaled P41.3 billion, up 22.21 percent or P7.5 billion from last year. The P229.6 billion cumulative figure similarly grew by 4.13 percent or P9.1 billion over the comparable period.
As a percentage of revenue, interest payments for the five-month period accounted for 14.41 percent, declining from the previous year’s 15.34 percent.
On the other hand, its share to expenditure increased to 11.96 percent from 11.63 percent a year ago.
“Excluding interest payments from expenditures, the national government’s primary deficit for May stood at P80.9 billion, down by 28.39 percent or P32.1 billion on a year-on-year basis,” the Treasury said.
Consequently, the cumulative primary deficit fell to P96.7 billion, 59.39 percent lower than the previous year’s primary budget deficit of P238.2 billion as of end-May.