MANILA — The national government recorded a P6.3-billion budget surplus in October this year as revenue collections outpaced the increase in expenditures.
In its latest cash operations report released on Wednesday, the BTr said the fiscal surplus during the month was a reversal from the P34.4 billion deficit recorded last year.
The BTr said that from January to October this year, the fiscal deficit narrowed to P963.9 billion which stands at 64.94 percent of the P1.48 trillion full-year program.
Revenue collections recorded a double-digit increase of 22.63 percent to P473.1 billion from P385.8 billion in October 2023.
The BTr said this was mainly driven by the growth in both tax and non-tax collections.
Tax revenues rose by 16.94 percent from P354.8 billion to P414.9 billion on the back of higher collections of the Bureau of Internal Revenue and the Bureau of Customs.
Non-tax revenues, on the other hand, also went up by 87.65 percent to P58.3 billion from P31 billion a year ago.
For January to October this year, revenues increased by 16.8 percent to P3.76 trillion from PHP3.2 trillion in the same period last year.
Of the year-to-date revenues, P3.23 trillion came from taxes, which grew by 11.40 percent.
The remaining P539.4 billion were from non-tax sources, which climbed at a faster pace of 64.93 percent.
Expenditures
Expenditures, meanwhile, amounted to P466.8 billion, up by 11.08 percent from the P420.2 billion spent in the same month last year.
"This was mainly attributed to higher personnel services expenses due to the first tranche of the salary adjustments of qualified civilian government employees and the release of FY 2022 Performance-Based Bonus of the Department of Education," said the BTr.
"Spending was likewise bolstered by the implementation of infrastructure projects of the Department of Public Works and Highways and foreign-assisted rail projects of the Department of Transportation, as well as the social protection and health programs of the Department of Social Welfare and Development, and the Department of Health, respectively," it added.
Disbursements from January to October, meanwhile, grew by 11.52 percent to P4.73 percent.
It is equivalent to the P5.75 trillion revised full-year target. PNA
