Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 1) — Aggressive spending on infrastructure and COVID-related measures pushed the country’s budget deficit to swell to ₱1.67 trillion in 2021, data from Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) showed Tuesday.
In a statement, the agency said the amount rose by 21.78%, or ₱298.7 billion wider than the fiscal deficit booked in 2020.
The 2021 deficit amounted to 8.61% of gross domestic product (GDP).
The BTr attributed the result to the 10.60% growth in government expenditures despite recording a 5.24% increase in revenue collections.
Data released showed that government spending last year hit ₱4.7 trillion, or ₱448.2 billion higher than the previous year.
The government’s continued focus on infrastructure, while beefing up COVID-19 recovery measures, such as vaccine procurement, led to higher spending last year.
Equity infusion in support of government financial institution lending assistance programs, as well as higher internal revenue allotment shares of local government units, also contributed to the increase in state spending, the Bureau assessed.
Interest payments also grew by 12.89% to ₱429.4 billion.
Revenue collections, meanwhile, improved by 5.24% to ₱3 trillion in the whole year period.
The Treasury noted that 91% of the total, or ₱2.7 trillion, was generated through tax revenues, which grew by 9.4%.
Non-tax sources, on the other hand, comprised the remaining 9%.
The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) collected ₱2.1 trillion for the year, up by 6.5%, after deducting ₱8.2 billion in tax refunds paid to various claimants.
The Bureau of Customs, on the other hand, collected ₱643.6 billion in 2021, surpassing the previous year’s performance by 19.69%.
“BOC’s strong performance was credited to sustained enforcement activities, improved valuation, as well as improvement of importation volume,” the Treasury said.
The Agency itself logged ₱125.3 billion income, reflecting a full-year contraction of 42.95% due to lower dividends on national government’s shares of stocks, interest on advances from government-owned-and-controlled corporations, and other government service income.
Collections from other offices for 2021 stood at ₱140.4 billion, 6.50% faster than collections recorded in 2020.
