Strong public spending raises Oct. budget gap

The national government incurred a budget deficit in October as public spending continued to grow by doubledigits during the month, data from the Bureau of the Treasury showed yesterday.

Based on a document obtained by reporters from the Treasury bureau, the Duterte administration registered a R21.8-billion fiscal gap in October this year, more than eightfold increase from R2.3 billion in the same month last year.

According to the document, the acceleration of the deficit was on higher expenditures, which jumped by 28 percent to R226.9 billion from R177 billion in the previous year.

“This is the highest growth recorded so far this year, reversing the 6.9 percent contraction posted for the same month last year, as well as the 1.8 percent contraction in September 2017,” Budget Secretary Benjamin E. Diokno said in a briefing yesterday.

Diokno explained state disbursements rebounded in October owing to higher spending for social services, and the acquisition of transportation as well as equipment by the Bureau of Fire Protection and the Philippine National Police.

Likewise, the budget chief said that road infrastructure by the Department of Public Works and Highways buoyed government spending last month.

“The improvement in public spending will continue to support our growth momentum following the 6.9 percent GDP [gross domestic product] growth in the third-quarter this year,” Diokno said.

“The government will not let up in its efforts to accelerate growth in order to reach our overarching goals of building an economy that serves everyone and leaves no one behind,” he added.

In the first 10 months of the year, the national government’s total spending amounted to R2.421 trillion, an increase of 10 percent compared with R2.037 trillion in the same period last year.