THE National Government generated a budget surplus of P32.6 billion in August at the back of the robust year-on-year revenue growth against a slower paced expenditure growth, the Department of Finance (DOF) said Thursday.
The revenue generating agencies collected P209.6 billion in August, 19 percent higher than P176.7 billion collections a year ago, while the expenditures rose by 9 percent year-on-year to P177 billion in August.
Of the collected revenues, the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) contributed P157.5 billion to the state coffers, while the Bureau of Customs (BOC) generated P33.1 billion in revenues.
Both the BIR and BOC, accounting for a combined 90 percent of government revenues, raised their tax take during the month by double-digits, or 14 percent and 23 percent, respectively.
Likewise, non-tax revenues from other government agencies posted a hefty jump of 75 percent to P12 billion from P6.9 billion, while the Treasury’s income doubled from last year’s P2.7 billion to P5.8 billion.
From January to August, the total government revenues amounted to P1.481 trillion, a 3 percent improvement from P1.441 trillion a year ago, while the total spending stood at P1.619 trillion, up by 12 percent compared to P1.444 trillion a year ago..
This brought the cumulative budget deficit for the first eight months to P138.4 billion, "leaving the government ample fiscal room to support growth for the remainder of the year," DOF said.
The end-August budget deficit is also well within the P388.87 billion ceiling for the year, but significantly higher compared to P3.4 billion gap incurred in the same period in 2015, it added. (SDR/Sunnex)