Revenue collection jumped by more than 24 percent in August 2024 from a year ago, cutting the budget deficit by 59 percent during the month, the Bureau of the Treasury said Wednesday.
Data showed the government ran a budget deficit of P54.2 billion in August, down by 59.24 percent from the P133-billion deficit it recorded a year earlier.
The BTr attributed the narrower deficit to the 24.40-percent increase in government revenue and the 0.68-percent decline in government spending.
It said this brought the eight-month budget deficit to P697.0 billion, or 4.86-percent smaller than the previous year’s P732.5 billion. This also represented 46.95 percent of the full-year budget target for 2024.
Revenue collections climbed by P75.8 billion from a year ago to P386.3 billion in August 2024, driven by strong non-tax collections.
The resulting P3-trillion eight-month collection also topped the previous year’s outcome by 15.91 percent, or P410.8 billion, and accounted for 70.10 percent of the P4.3-trillion full-year program for 2024.
The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) collected P238.1 billion (net of P417 million in tax refund) in August, 11.51 percent above last year’s comparable outturn. This pushed the agency’s cumulative collection to P1.9 trillion in the eight-month period, outperforming the P1.7-trillion collection logged in the same period a year ago by 12.55 percent.
The Bureau of Customs’ (BOC) collections amounted to P78.5 billion (net of P219.0 million tax refund) in August, underscoring a 4.69-percent or P3.5-billion growth over the P75 billion raised a year ago. This drove the BOCs’ 2024 cumulative collections to P614.4 billion, up by 5.66 percent from its January-August 2023 performance.
Non-tax revenues in August reached P66.1 billion, more than thrice last year’s outturn of P18.8 billion, pushing the yeat-to-date collections to P434.9 billion, equivalent to 96.73 percent of the revised full-year program of P449.6 billion.
The government disbursed P440.5 billion in August 2024, reflecting a modest decline of 0.68 percent from last year’s P443.6 billion.
This was partly attributed to the lower total subsidy releases to government corporations and the sizeable outstanding checks recorded in various departments such as the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), and the Department of Health (DOH), during the period.
Outstanding checks represent payments made by line departments for the delivery of goods/services but were not yet presented for encashment at the banks by the concerned contractors or payees.
These remain under the accounts of spending agencies in authorized government depository banks and are not yet considered as actual disbursements in the cash operations report.
The eight-month cumulative disbursement rose 11.32 percent to P3.7 trillion, attaining 64.13 percent of the P5.8 trillion full-year 2024 program.
