November shortfall boosts deficit to P477B
Credit to Author: MAYVELIN U. CARABALLO, TMT| Date: Thu, 27 Dec 2018 16:25:48 +0000
The government has moved closer to hitting its 2018 deficit target, with November’s P39.1-billion shortfall boosting the year-to-date tally to P477.2 billion — 91 percent of the P523.7-billion goal.
Treasury data released on Thursday showed that government spending continued to outpace revenues, although growth slowed last month compared to October
November’s P39.1-billion shortfall, while lower compared to the P59.9 billion posted in October, was more than four times larger than the P8.6 billion recorded a year earlier.
Government revenues rose by 7 percent to P259.7 billion, from P243.5 billion last year, while expenditures grew 19 percent to P298.8 billion from P252.1 billion. A month earlier, revenues and expenditures rose by 20 percent and 35 percent, respectively.
The year-to-date deficit of P477.2 billion was nearly double the P243.5 billion posted in the comparative 2017 period.
For November alone, the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) accounted for the bulk of revenues with P192 billion, 7 percent higher compared to the year-earlier P179.4 billion. The growth, however, was slower compared to October’s 16 percent.
The Bureau of Customs (BoC) netted P47.9 billion — a 3-percent gain from last year’s P46.4 billion — while other offices contributed P2.3 billion, bringing total tax revenues for the month to P242.2 billion. Tax revenue growth also slowed to 6 percent from the 19 percent a month earlier.
Non-tax earnings, meanwhile, totaled P17.5 billion with the Treasury contributing P4.7 billion — up 10 percent. Other offices contributed P12.8 billion, 16 percent higher from last year.
The Treasury bureau, in a statement, attributed its higher income from “national government deposits, income from BSF/SSF (bond sinking fund/securities stabilization fund) investments, fidelity bond premia and remittance of the national government share from Pagcor (Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp).”
The bulk of government spending was for primary expenditures, which rose by 18 percent to P274.2 billion. Interest payments of P24.7 billion accounted for the rest of state spending for the month.
Reckoned from the start of 2018, revenues were up 16 percent year on year to P2.618 trillion as of end-November.
“To date, 92 percent of the P2,846.3 billion full-year revenue program has been collected,” the Treasury noted.
The BIR’s 11-month tally of P1.801 trillion was 11 percent higher compared to a year earlier while the BoC’s year-to-date take of P538.5 billion was 30 percent better.
Primary expenditures rose 26 percent to P2.775 trillion during the period while interest payments recorded 10 percent growth to P320 billion.
Netting out interest payments, the government recorded a P14.5-billion primary deficit in November, a reversal of the P12-billion surplus posted last year.
Year to date, the primary balance hit a deficit of P157.2 billion, also a reversal from last year’s P46.5-billion surplus.
The government is targeting budget deficits of P523.682 billion or 3 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) for 2018, P624.370 billion or 3.2 percent for 2019 and 3 percent for 2020-2022.
Last year’s deficit of P350.6 billion was equivalent to 2.2 percent of GDP.
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