The national government’s budget deficit widened by 7.38 percent to P1.26 trillion in the first 11 months of 2025 from P1.18 trillion logged in the same period last year as spending growth outpaced revenue collection.
The fiscal gap through November represented 80.92 percent of the revised full-year target of P1.56 trillion. The widening deficit was led by a 2.49-percent year-on-year increase in government expenditures, which reached P5.41 trillion, while total revenue collection grew at a slower pace of 1.09 percent.
Government receipts amounted to P4.15 trillion from January-to-November, accounting for 91.79 percent of the revised P4.52 trillion full-year program.
Tax collections, which made up 91.55 percent of total revenue, grew 7.03 percent to P3.80 trillion. This growth helped offset a P204.6-billion contraction in non-tax sources caused by the base effect of one-off windfall receipts in 2024.
Bureau of Internal Revenue collections rose 8.92 percent to P2.91 trillion, accounting for 76.49 percent of total tax receipts. Bureau of Customs collections totaled P859.5 billion, a 1.12-percent increase from the P850.0 billion raised in the equivalent period last year.
Non-tax revenues fell 36.85 percent to P350.6 billion in the absence of the previous year’s one-off remittances. However, the figure has exceeded the adjusted full-year target of P306.5 billion by 14.40 percent, supported by better-than-expected income from the Bureau of the Treasury and proceeds from privatization and fees.
Total expenditures hit P5.41 trillion, representing 89 percent of the revised P6.08 trillion full-year program. Primary expenditures, which exclude debt interest, stood at P4.61 trillion, up 0.80 percent from a year ago.
Interest payments grew 13.49 percent to P800.5 billion, accounting for 14.79 percent of year-to-date disbursements.
The primary deficit in the 11-month period eased to P463.2 billion from P471.5 billion in 2024.
Government officials attributed the decline in the primary deficit partly to temporary delays in the implementation of some flood control projects amid ongoing investigations into alleged corruption.
