MANILA – Revenues registered higher growth compared to government expenditures in October 2021, resulting in a budget gap of PHP64.3 billion for the month.
Data released by the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) on Thursday showed that total revenues last month reached PHP253.1 billion, up by 10.9 percent compared to year-ago’s PHP228.2 billion.
Government spending rose by 9.60 percent to PHP317.4 billion against year-ago’s PHP289.6 billion.
Of the total revenues, collections by the Bureau of the Internal Revenue (BIR) rose by 6.60 percent to PHP162.1 billion, while collections by the Bureau of Customs (BOC) posted a higher jump of 9.76 percent to PHP55.5 billion.
In the first 10 months this year, total revenues reached PHP2.49 trillion, up 5 percent compared to PHP2.37 trillion in the same period last year.
Expenditures posted a higher increase at 11.51 percent to PHP3.693 trillion from PHP3.312 trillion in end-October 2020.
This brought the 10-month budget deficit to PHP1.203 trillion, up by 27.94 percent year-on-year and accounts for around 65 percent of the PHP1.9 trillion full-year program.
In a report, Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation (RCBC) chief economist Michael Ricafort said he expects a further increase in government spending as the country hastens the implementation of various infrastructure projects ahead of the construction ban before the May 2022 national polls.
He said various programs aimed at addressing the impact of the virus-induced pandemic and the purchase of additional vaccines against Covid-19 are expected to increase government spending in the coming months.
Meanwhile, Ricafort cited that continued easing of quarantine restrictions, especially now that the government has adopted the Alert Level system nationwide, is seen to boost government revenues.
This, as more businesses are now able to operate and people have started to flock to the malls, parks, and other areas, thus boosting the economic activities, he said.
“An important development being anticipated for the country's fiscal and economic performance would be the timely approval of the 2022 national budget by lawmakers by early December 2021 or before the Christmas holidays/break to avert the risk of a re-enacted budget for next year, especially for funding various Covid-19 programs and to continue help pump-prime/stimulate the economy through increased infrastructure spending and other government projects as important pillars of the country's economic recovery program for 2022,” he added. (PNA)
