The government’s budget deficit went down by 65.27 percent in October to P34.4 billion from P99.1 billion a year ago on double-digit growth in revenue collection, the Bureau of the Treasury said Wednesday.
“This was underscored by a notable 33.56-percent rise in revenue collections outpacing government expenditure growth of 8.32 percent,” the Treasury said in a statement.
It said the budget deficit in the 10-month period amounted to P1.018 trillion, down by 8.45 percent or P94.0 billion from P1.112 trillion registered in the same period last year. It also represented 67.88 percent of the P1.499 trillion programmed deficit for 2023.
Data showed that October collection reached P385.8 billion, P96.9 billion higher than last year’s figure. Cumulative collection from January to October also increased 9.41 percent to P3.224 trillion from a year earlier.
About 89.84 percent or P2.896 trillion of the year-to-date collection was generated through taxes and the remaining 10.16 percent came from non-tax sources at P327.6 billion, which grew by 9.18 percent and 11.50 percent year-on-year, respectively.
The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) collected P274.4 billion in October, 46.94 percent higher than P186.8 billion a year ago. The higher outturn was attributed to the third-quarter remittance of the value-added tax returns due Oct. 25, 2023 by virtue of Memorandum Circular No. 5-2023, which was implemented starting January 2023.
The BIR also managed to grow its 10-month collection by P213.2 billion or 11.11 percent to P2.133 trillion, which was 80.80 percent of the P2.639 trillion goal for the year.
The Bureau of Customs’ (BOC) October net collection reached P77.9 billion after deducting tax refunds of P762.0 million, up by 3.83 percent or P2.9 billion from the 2022 outcome. This brought the agency’s overall January-October haul to P738.3 billion, making up 84.46 percent of the P874.2 billion FY 2023 target and improving by 3.47 percent or P24.8 billion from last year’s comparable performance.
Income collected and generated by the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) reached P16.8 billion, a 26.99 percent or P3.6-billion improvement from last year’s outturn.
“The favorable outcome for the period was primarily bolstered by the increased earnings on the national government’s deposits, BTr’s managed funds, and the national government’s share from PAGCOR [Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp.] income,” the Treasury said.