The government’s budget deficit increased 24.6 percent in October to P61.4 billion from the P49.3-billion shortfall a year ago, on double-digit decline in revenue collections and single-digit drop in spending amid the pandemic.
“The budget gap widened behind a 12.75-percent year-over-year contraction in revenue receipts despite a 6.84-percent reduction in disbursements,” the Bureau of the Treasury said Wednesday.
It said deficit in the first 10 months grew 170 percent to P940.6 billion from P348.3 billion a year ago.
Data showed that revenue collections fell 12.75 percent in October to P228.2 billion from P261.6 billion in the same month last year. Tax collections accounted for 89 percent or P203.8 billion of the total while the remaining 11 percent or P24.4 billion was from non-tax collections.
Ten-month collections also contracted by 8.41 percent to P2.4 trillion and comprised 94 percent of the P2.5-trillion revised program for the year.
The Bureau of Internal Revenue posted a 14.62-percent decline in collection in October with a P152.1-billion uptake. This brought the agency’s aggregate collection in the first 10 months to P1.6 trillion, down 10.38 from P1.8 trillion a year earlier.
The BIR already collected 95 percent of its revised full-year target of P1.7 trillion.
Meanwhile, the Bureau of Customs’ net revenue amounted to P50.6 billion in October, down by 12.25 percent from comparable figures in 2019. Ten-month tariff collections went down by 14.98 percent to P448.6 billion, equivalent to 89 percent of the P506.2 billion revised program for the year.
The Bureau of the Treasury generated P6.9 billion in October, representing a 34.93-percent decline over last year’s achievement.
The Treasury income, however, grew 61.33 percent in the first 10 months to P208.5 billion, surpassing the original full-year target of P82.3 billion.
Meanwhile, government spending was down by 6.84 percent to P289.6 billion in October from last year’s P310.8 billion. “This is largely attributed to the base effect of the one-off pension differential releases for the military and uniformed personnel in October last year, as well as the expected lower capital outlays during the year because of the pandemic,” the Treasury said.
Expenditures in the first 10 months reached P3.3 trillion, up by 12.75 percent or P374.5 billion from P2.9 trillion a year ago.
“This was propelled by the implementation of various government’s COVID-19 emergency response and assistance programs,” the Treasury said.
