MANILA – The national government's budget deficit went down by 6.32 percent to PHP1.51 trillion last year from PHP1.61 trillion in 2022.
"The narrower fiscal gap for the year was attributed to the 7.86% increase in revenue collection, surpassing the 3.42% growth in government spending," the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) said in a report on Thursday.
The government incurs a budget deficit when spending exceeds its revenues.
Last year's budget deficit was slightly higher than the PHP1.499 trillion program earlier approved by the Development Budget Coordination Committee.
The BTr said the 2023 deficit went down to 6.2 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP), slightly higher than the 6.1 percent program but significantly lower than 2022's 7.3 percent deficit-to-GDP ratio.
The BTr said this indicates a "progress of fiscal consolidation."
Total revenues last year amounted to PHP3.82 trillion, up by 7.86 percent from a year ago, driven by improvements in both tax and non-tax revenue.
"The FY (fiscal year) 2023 outturn also exceeded the PHP3.729 trillion program by 2.55% or PHP95.1 billion, driven primarily by overperformance of non-tax collections," the BTr said.
Full-year expenditures, on the other hand, reached PHP5.336 trillion, 3.42 percent higher than the PHP5.15 trillion in 2022.
Last year's expenditures were also 2.06 percent above the PHP5.22 trillion program.
The BTr said the total expenditure was at 22 percent of the GDP, surpassing the 21.3 percent implicit target but lower than the 23.4 percent recorded in 2022, consistent with fiscal consolidation. (PNA)
