Spending boost widens budget deficit in November
MANILA, Philippines — The national government’s budget deficit widened to P39.1 billion in November as “strong” state spending outpaced a “moderate” increase in revenue generation, the Bureau of the Treasury reported Thursday.
The fiscal gap in November was 354 percent larger than the P8.6 billion deficit posted in the same month last year, the BTr said.
In eleven months, the government’s budget balance swung to a P477.2 billion deficit, 96 percent higher than P243.5 billion shortfall registered in the comparable period in 2017 and equivalent to 91 percent of the P523.7 billion full-year cap for 2018.
A deficit means the government spent more than it earned, while the surplus means otherwise.
According to the BTr, revenues grew 7 percent year-on-year to P259.7 billion last month from P243.5 billion. From January to November, collections hit P2.618 trillion, up 16 percent from last year.
Meanwhile, expenditures surged 19 percent to P298.8 billion in November from P252.1 billion a year ago. Year-to-date, disbursement was at P3.095 trillion, 24 percent bigger than P2.493 trillion chalked up in the same period in 2017.
The Duterte government has been pushing for a wider budget gap to accommodate heightened infrastructure spending, particularly big-ticket projects in its ambitious “Build, Build, Build” program.
At present, the Philippine government’s fiscal deficit program was set at 3 percent of gross domestic product this year, 3.2 percent for next year, and 3 percent in 2020 until 2022. — Ian Nicolas Cigaral
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