Gov’t posts P13.16-B deficit in May

MANILA, Philippines - The government incurred a deficit of P13.16 billion in May, 37 percent lower than the P20.9 billion target ceiling and also 33.7 percent below the P19.86 billion deficit recorded in May 2012.

This brings the year-to-date deficit to P42.8 billion or 31 percent less than the P61.9 billion programmed for the five-month period, based on data from the Department of Finance.

Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima said the National Government still has room to spend for growth given its lower-than-targeted deficit.

“The cash operations report so far shows that we continue to be well within our deficit ceilings despite the healthy pace of our expenditures program. Our strong collection performance provides plenty of room for further expansion of our priority programs,” he said.

The government registered revenues of P154.04 billion in May, up 17.2 percent from P131.4 billion a year earlier.  Of the total, P111.9 billion came from the Bureau of Internal Revenue, up 18.3 percent from P94.55 billion.

The Bureau of Customs contributed P25.925 billion, slightly higher than the P25.15 billion contribution in May 2012. Revenues from the Bureau of Treasury surged 86.9 percent to P9.42 billion.

Other offices, on the other hand, remitted P6.8 billion.

For the January to May this year period, revenues rose 9.2 percent to P708.37 billion. The BIR turned over P504.95 billion of the total revenues or an improvement of 14.8 percent from the previous year’s P439.82 billion.

The BOC’s contribution amounted to P121.88 billion or almost the same level as last year.

Netting out interest payments, the government still operates under a primary surplus amounting to P95.9 billion as of May.

The five-month budget shortfall is just 18 percent of the government’s deficit target this year of P238 billion, or two percent of the country’s gross domestic product.

The government’s expenditures, meanwhile, reached P167.2 billion last month or six percent below budget.

Total disbursements for January to May amounted to P751.213 billion, 12.4 percent more than the P668.39 billion spent in the same period a year ago.

“Our resilient revenues have given us space for liability management activities in these volatile economic conditions. We are closely monitoring market developments for opportunities to further strengthen our fiscal position,” Purisima said.

The Department of Finance had programmed a budget deficit of P84.7 billion for the first half, with total revenues of P861 billion against total expenditures of P945.7 billion.

Budget and Management Secretary Florencio B. Abad said the country’s performance for the first five months shows the government’s efforts to further spur growth of the local economy by increased infrastructure spending.

 â€œWe’re looking at accelerating disbursements further and, more crucially, ensuring high-impact spending that will translate to direct, immediate, and sustainable benefits to Filipinos,” he said.

Abad said government spending continues to be robust, backed by improved obligation rates among key agencies and a stronger fiscal base to support critical expenditures.

 â€œIt must also be noted that program budgeting has allowed us to approach expenditures in a strategic and convergent fashion, where projects are no longer funded as stand-alone initiatives or without any apparent design. Instead, the budget supports programs comprehensively, and in accordance to the development priorities set by President Aquino,” he said.