Budget gap widens to P84.8 billion in August

MANILA, Philippines — The national government had a wider budget deficit of nearly P85 billion in August as revenues dipped, data from the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) showed.

Data on the cash operation report for August showed that the Marcos administration recorded a budget shortfall of P84.77 billion, which is 56.4 percent higher than the P54.2-billion deficit in the same month last year.

Notably, the latest figure was more than four times the P18.92 billion deficit recorded in July.

A budget deficit arises when government spending surpasses revenue collections.

In August, slower revenue growth persisted even as national government expenditures declined, reflecting continued fiscal pressures and challenges in balancing resources effectively.

Treasury data indicated that total revenue collection in August slowed to P352.5 billion, equivalent to an 8.7 percent decline from P386.3 billion in the same month in 2024.

The Bureau of Internal Revenue remained a top contributor in August as collections increased by over five percent to P250.1 billion from P238.1 billion a year ago.

“The robust performance was driven by higher corporate income tax, personal income tax, value-added tax, excise tax on tobacco, percentage tax on banks and financial institutions, and documentary stamp tax,” the Treasury said.

Meanwhile, the collections of the Bureau of Customs slipped by 1.1 percent to P77.4 billion from last year’s P78.5 billion.

The BTr also reported that government spending slightly slipped to P437.3 billion in August from P440.5 billion in the same month last year.

From January to August, the budget deficit widened by nearly 25 percent to P869.18 billion from P696.96 billion in the same period last year.

Total revenue collections stood at P3.08 trillion, up by 3.1 percent from last year’s P2.99 trillion.

For a year-to-date basis, BIR’s tax take increased by 11.4 percent to P2.14 trillion.

Non-tax revenues, however, continued to drop further by 67.8 percent to P21.3 billion from P66.1 billion a year ago. The BTr traced the decline to the boost in one-off big remittances, which made the year-on-year comparison higher.

Income generated by the BTr posted a 53-percent drop to P7.7 billion from last year’s level of P16.5 billion.