July deficit widens 34 percent

The national government (NG) ramped up its spending activities by 34 percent in July the budget deficit widened further to P86.4 billion, the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) said on Wednesday.

The deliberate acceleration of disbursement similarly brought the seven-month budgetary shortfall 36 percent wider or P74.4 billion from last year’s P205 billion to P279.4 billion this year.

The budget deficit in July alone was 71 percent higher than last year and the highest nominal spending thus far for 2018.

Disbursement in July went up 34 percent but that revenue collection increased by only 24 percent.

Total revenues in July amounted to P241.7 billion, up by 24 percent or P47.1 billion from the same month last year.

This brought year-to-date collection to P1.652 trillion, 21 percent higher than the comparable period in 2017, and made up around 58 percent of the P2.846 trillion full-year program.

Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) collection recovered in July after a slow growth in June, growing only 19 percent over the July 2017 level to reach P164 billion.

Total BIR collection aggregated P1.128 trillion as of end-July, posting 14 percent growth from the same period last year.

Bureau of Customs (BoC) collection rose 49 percent for the month with actual collection totaling P52.1 billion.

Strong enforcement and revenue enhancement measures, coupled with the weaker peso and higher oil price allowed the agency to sustain its strong year-on-year growth for the seventh consecutive month of the year.

Year-to-date, BoC revenue increased 35 percent to P331.5 billion.

Total BTr income amounted to P11.8 billion in July, up 39 percent from the previous year due to higher remittance of dividends on shares of stocks held by the government and NG share in the gaming income of the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. and profits posted by the Manila International Airport Authority.

Year-to-date, the P77.9 billion total BTr income already surpassed the 2018 full-year program of P55.8 billion by P22.1 billion or 40 percent.

Non-tax collections from other offices contributed P12.2 billion for the month, up six percent from last year’s level.

Year-to-date revenue of P101.9 billion showed a P35.6 billion or 54 percent increase in collection over the same period last year.