NG deficit widens 9% to P235 B in 10 months

The government incurred a fiscal deficit of P234.9 billion in the first 10 months, widening by nine percent from the P216 billion shortfall recorded in the same period last year amid the Duterte administration’s efforts to ramp up public spending, the Bureau of the Treasury reported yesterday.

For October alone, the government’s fiscal deficit widened more than nine times to P21.8 billion from only P2.3 billion a year ago.

A deficit occurs when government’s expenditures exceed the revenue that it generates.

As of end-October, the government spent P2.24 trillion, up 10 percent from P2.04 trillion in the same period in 2016.

In a separate press briefing, Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno said spending in 2017 saw an improvement despite the fact that the administration has not yet started the construction of its 75 flagship infrastructure projects. “I know the reason for that is because we did not discontinue the projects that were started by the previous administration,” Diokno said.

For October, alone, Diokno said disbursements jumped 28 percent to P226.9 billion from P177 billion a year ago, representing the fastest pace of growth recorded so far this year.

“Higher expenditures for social services by the DSWD transportation and equipment by the Bureau of Fire Protection and PNP and road infrastructures by the Department of Public Works and Highways buoyed government spending for the period,” Diokno said.

The budget chief said government expenditures may further increase in the remaining months of the year due to the acceleration of program or project implementation, provision of year-end bonus to state employees, and requests for payment by contractors, and lenders before the year ends.

Diokno said growth in spending would help sustain the growth of the economy. “I will say that maybe, a 6.9 percent growth rate is attainable,” he said.

Meanwhile, revenue from January to October amounted to P2.01 trillion, also 10 percent higher than last year’s P1.82 trillion, as both the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) and the Bureau of Customs (BOC) posted improvements in their collections.

The BIR, for its part, collected P1.44 trillion during the 10-month period, higher by 11 percent than last year’s level of P1.29 trillion.

Likewise, the revenue of the BOC rose 14 percent to P366.7 billion from P321.3 billion.