The national government’s budget surplus saw a 22.27-percent year-on-year decline to P68.4 billion in January 2025 from a year ago, as the 19.4-percent expenditure growth offset the 10.7-percent rise in revenue collection.
Revenue collections maintained a strong upward trajectory, growing to P467.1 billion in January 2025 from P421.8 billion from a year earlier, according to the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr).
The increase was led by higher tax collections, which improved 13.60 percent year-on-year. Taxes accounted for 93.66 percent or P437.5 billion of the total collections, with the remaining 6.34 percent (P29.6 billion) coming from non-tax sources.
The Bureau of Internal Revenue’s (BIR) collections in the first month of the year rose to P355.1 billion from P308.4 billion a year ago.
The 15.13-percent growth was led by the 18.62-percent increase in value-added tax (VAT), followed by gains in income taxes (14.23 percent), other taxes (22.20 percent) and percentage taxes (11.88 percent).
It was also attributed to the bureau’s intensified collection efforts, aggressive illicit trade campaigns and digital transformation projects.
The P79.3 billion raised by the Bureau of Customs (BOC) in January represented a 7.98-percent rise from last year’s actual collection of P73.4 billion, underpinned by the agency’s modernization program.
VAT collections surged 17.55 percent, while excise collections grew by 10.10 percent, helping to counterbalance the reduction in duty collections due to lower tariffs on rice imports under Executive Order No. 62.
Non-tax revenues stood at P29.6 billion, representing a 19.16-percent decline from last year, largely due to the base effect of one-time gains recorded in the year prior.
Income from the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) remained relatively strong, despite its 5.92-percent decline. It contributed 53.17 percent of the total non-tax revenues, with a 34.62-percent increase in the government’s share in PAGCOR profits providing a positive boost.
Government disbursement amounted to P398.8 billion in January, up by 19.45 percent from a year ago.
“This robust spending performance resulted mainly from the disbursements attributed to progress billings of completed infrastructure and other capital outlay projects of the Department of Public Works and Highways, implementation of various health and social protection programs, as well as expenses of the Commission on Elections for preparatory activities relative to the conduct of the 2025 national and local elections,” the BTr said.
Primary expenditures, which exclude interest payments, reached P294.4 billion, growing by 13.37 percent from a year earlier.
Interest payments amounted to P104.4 billion, pushed higher by the re-issuance strategy and earlier servicing of global bond with a Feb. 1 coupon date falling on a weekend. Despite this, the overall debt management strategy remains prudent, ensuring fiscal sustainability and strong economic growth, the BTr said.