Budget surplus narrows to P31.4 billion

In April

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines swung back to a budget surplus in April, but the excess narrowed to P31 billion as collections were tempered by the one-month extension in the deadline in the filing and payment of income tax.

Latest data from the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) showed that the government recorded a lower budget surplus of P31.4 billion in April, down by 53.3 percent from the P67.3 billion in the same month last year.

The fiscal balance was a complete reversal of the P349.7-billion deficit in March. This marked the second surplus this year, following the P165.4 billion recorded in January.

A budget surplus means the government earned more than what it spent during a given period, although at a lower level this time around.

The Treasury attributed the smaller surplus in April to modest revenue gains after President Marcos moved the Annual Income Tax Return (AITR) deadline to May 15 from April 15, citing the soaring living costs from the Middle East oil price shock.

April typically posts excess collections as taxpayers rush to beat the deadline.

Data from the Treasury showed that revenues inched up by 2.8 percent to P536.8 billion from P522.1 billion, while expenditures grew at a faster pace of 11.1 percent to P505.4 billion from P454.8 billion.

Collections of the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) inched up by 0.4 percent to P422.2 billion, with the Treasury noting that the increase was partly due to the one-month extension of the AITR deadline amid the declaration of a state of national energy emergency.

Meanwhile, the Bureau of Customs (BOC) posted a 15.5- percent rise in collections to P86.3 billion, while revenues from other offices slipped 10.1 percent to P2.5 billion.

Non-tax revenues improved to P25.8 billion in April, up by 7.3 percent from P24.1 billion in April 2025, supported by the P160 million in restitution funds recovered from flood control projects and P623.9 million in privatization proceeds.

“This lifted cumulative collections to P192 billion, more than twice last year’s P90.7 billion, supported by early dividend remittances from some government-owned and -controlled corporations,” the Treasury said.

The Treasury said the larger National Tax Allotment shares of local government units, the Annual Block Grant to the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao and the releases for the Local Government Support Fund fueled the double-digit increase.

Budgetary support for state-run firms also swelled, particularly with the return of the controversial P60 billion in “excess funds” to the Philippine Health Insurance Corp.

In addition, disbursements from direct payments made by development partners to the suppliers or contractors of various foreign-assisted railway projects of the Department of Transportation contributed to the higher April releases.

From January to April, the government incurred a narrower budget deficit of P324.05 billion, declining by 14.4 percent from P378.7 billion a year ago.

As of end-April, total revenues climbed by 10 percent to P1.67 trillion from P1.52 trillion. BIR collections improved by 2.74 percent to P1.14 trillion while BOC collections grew by 6.4 percent to P325.7 billion.

On the other hand, state expenditures increased by 5.1 percent to almost P2 trillion in April from 1.9 trillion in the same month in 2025.

This year, the economic team aims to bring the budget deficit to P1.61 trillion and cut the deficit-to-gross domestic product ratio to 5.3 percent.