Government’s budget surplus grows to P11 billion in October

MANILA, Philippines — Amid the national government’s tamed spending, the Marcos administration posted a budget surplus of over P11 billion in October, primarily fueled by a larger decline in expenditure than revenues, according to the latest data from the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr).

The BTr’s cash operations report showed a budget excess of P11.2 billion in October, which is nearly 76 percent higher than the P6.3 billion surplus posted in the same month last year

Month-on-month, the latest figure is a huge turnaround from the P248-billion deficit in September.

A budget surplus occurs when revenue collections exceed government expenditures, meaning the state generated more money for the period than what it spent.

Despite a decline in government expenditure, a slowdown in the administration’s revenue collection continued to persist.

Treasury data indicated that total revenue collection during the month slowed to P441.7 billion, representing a 6.6 percent decline from P473.1 billion in the same month in 2024.

Former Bureau of Internal Revenue commissioner Romeo Lumagui Jr. earlier said the tax agency experienced a slowdown in revenue collection following the lingering issues surrounding the Department of Public Works and Highways.

Despite the slowdown, BIR posted a one-percent increase in revenue for October to P328.8 billion from P325.5 billion a year ago.

“This robust performance was driven by collections from corporate income tax, personal income tax, value-added tax, percentage tax on banks and financial institutions and excise tax on tobacco products,” the BTr said.

Collections of the Bureau of Customs, meanwhile, declined by 4.52 percent to P83 billion from P86.9 billion in October last year.

Non-tax revenues continued to underperform, declining by 53.3 percent to P27.2 billion from P58.3 billion in the same month a year ago.

From January to October, the country’s budget remained in a deficit, widening by 14.75 percent to P1.11 trillion from P963.9 billion in the same period last year.

“The year-to-date deficit remains in line with the government’s fiscal consolidation goal at 70.8 percent of the fiscal year 2025 revised full-year target of P1.56 trillion,” the Treasury said.

Total revenue collections for the same period stood at P3.81 trillion, higher by 1.13 percent from last year’s P3.77 trillion.

Meanwhile, the total expenditures were higher by 3.9 percent at P4.9 trillion from P4.73 trillion in the same period last year.