A double-digit growth in revenue collection, combined with a nearly flat spending, enabled the government to post a budget surplus of P45.7 billion in January, the Department of Finance said Friday.
Finance Secretary Benjamin Diokno said Friday the budget surplus in January was a reversal of the P23.38-billion deficit incurred in the same month last year.
“This favorable outcome was a result of revenues outgrowing government spending: revenues grew by 25.2 percent while spending rose by 0.3 percent,” he said.
Revenues in January jumped by P70 billion to P348.167 billion from P278.075 billion a year earlier. Taxes, accounting for 87.73 percent of the total collection reached P305.4 billion, up by 19.48 percent year-on-year, while non-tax revenue with a 12.27-percent share, surged 90.37 percent from a year ago.
The Bureau of Internal Revenue collected P234.819 billion in January, representing an increase of 20 percent from P195.775 billion in the same month last year. The Bureau of Customs’ collections went up 21 percent to P70.59 billion from P58.34 billion, while income generated by the Bureau of the Treasury surged by 60 percent to P17.753 billion from P11.117 billion.
Government spending barely grew to P302.418 billion from P301.457 billion. Net of interest payments, the national government’s primary surplus hit P92.7 billion in January, or more than double the P42.2-billion posted in the same month last year.
Data from the DOF showed the budget deficit narrowed by 3.35 percent in 2022 to P1.6 trillion from a P1.7-trillion shortfall in 2021. The full-year deficit was within the P1.7-trillion full-year program and was equivalent to 7.33 percent of the gross domestic product, down from 8.60 percent in 2021 and below the 7.58 percent program.
Revenue effort in 2022 improved to 16.10 percent of GDP from 15.48 percent in 2021 and better than the 15.17 percent program. Tax effort also increased to 14.62 percent of GDP from 14.13 percent a year ago and was above the 14.42 percent target.
The Bureau of Internal Revenue managed to improve its overall collection in 2022 by 12.39 percent or P257.5 billion to P2.3 trillion.
Collections by the Bureau of Customs climbed to P862.4 billion (net of P4.8 billion tax refund) in 2022, outperforming the P643.6 billion raised a year ago by 34.01 percent or P218.9 billion, and 19.53 percent or P140.9 billion above the P721.5 billion 2022 target.
Income collected and generated by the Bureau of the Treasury for the year hit P154.8 billion, far exceeding the P63.4 billion full-year program by P91.3 billion and was 23.48 percent or P29.4 billion more than the 2021 revenue performance.
Total government disbursements in 2022 expanded to P5.2 trillion from P4.7 trillion in 2021. Interest payments last year reached P502.9 billion, a 17.10-percent or P73.4-billion increase from P429.4 billion in 2021.