Gov’t registers 128.8-B budget surplus in August

The national government turned the budget balance into a surplus in August despite the double-digit growth in expenditures, the Bureau of the Treasury reported.

According to the Treasury data submitted to the Department of Finance, the national government registered a R28.8 billion fiscal surplus last month, lower by 12 percent compared with R32.6 billion in the same month last year.

The surplus in August trimmed down the government’s first eight-month budget gap to R176.2 billion, which is 27 percent more than the R138.4 billion incurred in the same period last year.

Total revenues last month amounted to R230.4 billion, 10 percent better than collections recorded a year earlier. Yearto-date, collections were up by 8 percent to R1.601.4 trillion, with tax revenues making up 91 percent of the total revenue collection.

Collections of the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) reflected strong year-onyear growth at 9 percent to R171.7 billion for the month. At end-August, expansion was also at 9 percent to R1.157.7 billion.

The Bureau of Customs collections, on the other hand, were up 16 percent over the same month last year, totalling R38.3 billion, resulting in a year-to-date collection of R283.6 billion or a year-onyear growth of 11 percent.

Income of the Bureau of the Treasury, meanwhile, increased 6 percent to R6.2 billion due to higher government service income resulting from the one-off remittance of the national government’s share from the profit of the Alabang Stock Farm Project amounting to R1.2 billion.

The one-off remittance offset the lower income from Bond Sinking Fund (BSF)/Securities Stabilization Fund (SSF) transactions, the Treasury said.

Meanwhile, state disbursements continued its double-digit growth for the fourth straight month coming in at R201.6 billion, 14 percent higher compared with the same period last year.

The steady expenditure growth from May to August allowed the year-to-date public spending to increase by 10 percent year-on-year from R1.619 trillion.

Interest payments (IP) for the month increased by 12 percent year-on-year to R26.4 billion due to higher foreign payments driven by the R2.4-billion Samurai Bonds interest paid in advance given that the original schedule of payment fell on a holiday.

Total IP of R222.6 billion for January to August was 2 percent higher yearon-year.

Excluding interest payments from expenditures, the government returns to a primary surplus for August amounting to R55.2 billion, after recording successive primary deficits from May to July 2017.

Year-to-date primary balance also returns to a surplus amounting to R46.4 billion, although R32.4 billion lower than its level over the same period in 2016.