Budget gap hits P37.1B in January

03/12/2010

The budget incurred a still gaping P37.1 billion in January but still the Department of Finance (DoF) called it an improvement, saying yesterday it was lower than the P38.1 billion shortfall during the same month a year ago.

The government suffered a budget blowout last year resulting in a fiscal gap of P298.5 billion, the biggest ever for any administration, and it is expected to be almost duplicated this year with a target of P293 billion.

Revenue collections for the month reached P92.3 billion, an 18 percent improvement compared to P78.5 billion a year ago.

The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) and the Bureau of Customs (BoC) registered a growth of 17 percent and 22 percent, respectively, compared to same month last year, according to the DoF.

Actual collections for the month were recorded at P64.6 billion for BIR and P17.6 billion for BoC, while the Bureau of the Treasury income was recorded at P5.2 billion.

Collections from other offices were recorded at P4.9 billion, the DoF said.

Spendings for January amounted to P129.4 billion, which was four percent higher from a year ago.

“Netting out interest payments in the expenditures, the national government recorded a primary surplus of P500 million from a primary deficit last year.

“We are pleased to have started the year with an improved fiscal performance. We hope to sustain this in the coming months with the continued vigorous implementation of the action plans of the BIR and BoC plus, hopefully, additional revenues from our privatization efforts,” Finance Secretary Margarito Teves said.

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