Budget deficit balloons to nearly P274B in April

the government’s fiscal position last month remained in shortfall as state spending surged and revenues declined, the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) reported on Wednesday.

April’s budget deficit of P273.9 billion was wider than the P59.5-billion gap in March, but a reversal of the P86.9-billion surplus a year ago.

In a statement, the Treasury bureau attributed last month’s fiscal position “to a robust 108.14-percent year- over- year acceleration in government spending vis-à-vis the 39.17-percent drop in revenue collection due to the adverse impact of the Covid-19 (coronavirus disease 2019) pandemic.”

Government revenues dropped to P187.8 billion in April from the year-earlier P308.7 billion, while expenditures increased to P461.7 billion from P221.8 billion in the same month in 2019.

A month earlierL revenues and expenditures jumped by 19.58 percent and 15.97 percent, respectively.

April’s shortfall boosted the yearto-date deficit to P347.9 billion, more than a hundred times bigger than the P3.4 billion incurred in the first four months of 2019.

For April aloneL the bureau of Internal Revenue accounted for the bulk of revenues with P90.5 billion, a 61.56-percent plunge from P235.5 billion a year earlier. The decline was larger than March’s 10.67-percent drop.

“The slower outturn was attributed to the Luzon-wide enhanced community quarantineL …hich …as also implemented in other provincesL and the extension of deadlines for the filing and payment of income and other taxes due for the month amid the pandemicL” the bTr said.

The bureau of Customs netted P34.4 billion, up 1.33 percent from P51.7 billion a year ago.

Other offices did not raise any tax revenue in April. As a resultL total tax revenues decreased by 56.74 percent to P124.9 billion, wider than the 10.67-percent drop in March.

Nontax earnings reached P62.8 billion, with the Treasury bureau contributing P52.8 billion — a

404.95-percent increase — which …as credited to the remittance of dividends and other income from government- o… ned and - controlled corporations in compliance with Republic Act 11469, or the “bayanihan to Heal As One Act.”

On the overall expenditure in AprilL the bTr said “spending …as boosted by the releases of funds for the implementation of the first tranche of the Social Amelioration Program and the Small business Wage Subsidy Program; Bayanihan grant to provincesL cities and municipalities; and other recovery

and rehabilitation measures of the national government under the bayanihan to Heal As One Act.”

The bulk of government spending — P229.1 billion — was for primary expendituresL …hich declined by 9.51 percent from P253.2 billion a year ago.

Interest payments (IP) of P21.9 billion accounted for the rest. It decreased by 7.04 percent “due to a high base effect from April 2019 IP and maturities.”

Netting out interest paymentsL the primary balance hit a fiscal gap of P252 billion in April, bringing the year-to-date tally to a shortfall of P206.1 billion.

The budget deficit this year is expected to reach P1.56 trillion, or 8.1 percent of the country’s gross domestic

ever choose the latter, with predictable consequences for the quality and efficiency of our output.

The ne… normal not only makes us less productive workers, but also makes us less productive consumers. Consumerism as a leisure activity has disappearedL and that has grave implications for an economy such as this oneL …hich is so dependent on it. Even if our personal financial state has not been adversely affected by the general economic crisis caused by the Wuhan Virus, the extra steps required by the need to not get sick and die have made casual buying a thing of the past, because it has, frankly, become a huge pain in the ass to buy the things we need or …ant. The demand spectrum for any kind of business has narrowed considerably, and while some of product (GDP)L according to latest estimates from the inter-agency Development budget Coordination Committee. This is 2.8 percentage points wider than the 5.3 percent of GDP estimated in March.

In a commentL ING bank Manila senior economist Nicholas Antonio Mapa said the wider fiscal gap in April …as expectedL “as the government rushed to help alleviate the dire situation caused by the pandemic.”

“The battle cry now for the government should be ‘whatever it takes’ with the authorities resisting to enter austerity mode to ensure that the economic hardship is minimizedL so that …e can get the economy back in form at the soonestL” he added.

that may be restored as the economy recovers from the pandemicL some of it is gone forever.

So, while we can talk about ways to make the best of and, perhaps, even maximize the ne… normal in a nuts-and-bolts sense, and while that conversation will still be very valuable and not something anyone will want to miss, we are only beginning to grapple …ith the realization that the new normal has obliged us, most reluctantly, to try to become ne… people. Sharing ideasL as …e will be doing this morning, can provide us useful pieces to that puzzle. UltimatelyL ho…everL putting it all together is something we’re going to each have to manage on our o…n.