Budget deficit nearing P140 B

The budget deficit for 2000, could exceed P130 billion but won’t go beyond P140 billion, Finance Secretary Jose T. Pardo said yesterday.

"The number (deficit) could be on the high side of more than P130 billion but it won’t reach P140 billion and will definitely not be anywhere near the P160 billion forecast by the Congressional Planning and Budget Office," Pardo said.

Pardo said the swelling of the deficit could be attributed to poor collections by the Bureau of Internal Revenue and the Bureau of Customs. He also cited the government’s botched attempts to privatize a number of government-owned-and-controlled corporations.

The latest forecast is way above the government’s earlier projection of a P120-billion deficit which was also adjusted from the original target of P90 billion for 2000. The P130-billion projection also exceeded the worst-case scenario earlier forecast by the Department of Budget and Management.

From January to November, the country‘s budget deficit soared to P114 billion. On the other hand total revenues for the nine-month period totaled P464 billion with expenditures at P578.9 billion.

The government’s projection of P130-billion deficit is also much larger than the ceiling agreed with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) of P62.5 billion.