Metro Manila (CNN Philippines) — The national government logged a P32.2 billion deficit in its budget balance last July, after ending the first half of the year with a P13.7 billion surplus.
The Department of Finance (DoF) said that the deficit was buoyed by faster government spending, despite a growth in total revenue.
“We will continue to unblock constraints to growth. It is encouraging to note that we are starting the quarter with a better footing on the public expenditure side,” said Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima.
Disbursements for the month reached P210.7 billion — an annualized growth of 25 percent. Subsequently, expenditures from January to July have reached P1.28 trillion, equivalent to an 11 percent annualized increase.
On a year-to-date basis, interest payments amounted to P209.2 billion — within the government’s program for the period. Such payments accounted for 16 percent of expenditures, an improvement from the 18 percent share during the same period last year.
“The pace of expenditure growth we are seeing has a clear positive trend since we adopted a whole-of-government approach to addressing underspending. Expenditures are on track to drive our growth for the third quarter (Q3),” Purisima added.
The government raised a total of P178.5 billion during the month, equivalent to a 7 percent increase from July last year. In effect, total revenues for the first seven months grew by an annualized 15 percent to reach P1.26 trillion.
The Bureau of Internal Revenue was the largest source of funds, with a haul of P118.2 billion for the month. It’s year-to-date collection stood at P824.1 billion — up 8 percent from the year-ago figure.
On the other hand, the Bureau of Customs (BoC) managed to collect P30.0 billion, despite 2015’s plunge in oil prices. The DoF said that weighted average values of imported oil continued to sag with an annualized 32 percent decline.
At P208.7 billion, the bureau’s total haul from January to July is 2 percent higher compared to the same period last year, as collections from non-oil commodities improved by 9 percent.
“We have enough fiscal firepower to keep bright what they have been calling the region’s bright star,” said Purisima.
