The budget deficit in November narrowed by 25 percent year-on-year to P93.3 billion as public spending declined and a slight increase in revenue collection during the month compared to the level in the same month last year.
The Bureau of Treasury said revenue collection rose 2.8 percent to P340.4 billion, helped by non-tax collection that surged to P41.5 billion in November from P5.3 billion last year due to higher dividends remitted by government corporations and the increase in the government’s share in the earnings of casino and gaming arm PAGCOR.
Tax collection by the Bureau of Internal Revenue in November declined to P210.2 billion from P237.1 billion last year because of the shift in the value-added tax remittance deadline while the revenue collected by the Bureau of Customs was down 2.7 percent to P73.7 billion.
For the January-November period, the budget deficit narrowed by 10.1 percent to P1.111 trillion from P1.499 trillion in the year-earlier period.
Total revenue collection in the 11-month period rose 8.8 percent to P3.564 trillion, with P3.182 trillion coming from government collection agencies such as the BIR and BOC. The BIR collected a total P2.343 trillion in the January-November period, up 8.6 percent year-on-year, while the collection of the BOC is up 2.9 percent to P812 billion.
The Bureau of the Treasury said its income surged to P41.5 billion in November 2023 from a mere P5.3 billion in 2022 primarily driven by higher dividend remittances and NG share from PAGCOR income. This pushed the National Treasury’s cumulative revenue to P216.3 billion, surpassing the level registered in the year-earlier period by 46 percent.
National government expenditures for November slowed by 4.7 percent or by P21.3 billion due to lower national tax allotment shares of local government units, lower direct payments made by development partners for the foreign-assisted rail transport projects of the Department of Transportation, as well as the different timing or schedule of big-ticket disbursements in the Department of Public Works and Highways and the Department of Social Welfare and Development.
Total disbursements at the end of November grew by 3.6 percent to P4.675 trillion and at 89.42 percent of the FY 2023 program.
Primary expenditures, which excludes interest payments, of P385.1 billion in November was 10 percent lower than what it was in 2022. Meanwhile, the cumulative primary spending of P4.108 trillion as of the end of November notched a 1.3 percent increase from last year.
The national government’s total interest payments for November hit P48.5 billion, up 86 percent year-on-year. Total interest payments in the 11-month period was up 23 percent to P567.7 billion.
