11-mo budget deficit of P127-B only 46% of 2012 goal

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Budget deficit from the January-to-November period reaches only P127.3 billion, less than half of the full year program of P279.106 billion

MANILA, Philippines – Higher revenues collections and prudent spending has kept the national government’s fiscal deficit in the first 11 months of the year at only 45.6% of the full-year goal.

In a statement on Thursday, December 27, Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima said deficit from the January-to-November period reached only P127.3 billion, less than half of the full year program of P279.106 billion.

The 11-month total was P31.046 billion or 32.3% higher than the year-ago level. November deficit contributed P11.564 billion, 47.4% lower than a year ago. 

“With the solid government fiscal performance due to respectable improvements in the Aquino administration’s spending and collection, the risk of fiscal slippage—or of the deficit exceeding the program—is nearly eliminated this year,” Purisima said. 

“Netting out interest payments, the National Government continues to operate at a primary surplus for January to November amounting to P155.037 billion,” he added. 

Revenues

Below is a breakdown of the P155.308 billion revenue collections in November:

  • P110.767 billion via Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR), higher by 7.6% or P7.81 against a year ago.  
  • P23.749 billion via the Bureau of Customs (BOC) 
  • P8.607 billion via the Bureau of Treasury (BOT) 
  • P12.185 billion via Other Offices, up 57% year-on-year

“On the back of a 20.6% year-on-year boost in revenue collections in the month of November, aggregate revenues in the 11 months of the year grew by 12.7% to P1.409 trillion,” Purisima reported.

Spending

Budget Secretary Florencio Abad emphasized that November has been the highest-spending month so far this year, with P166.9 billion disbursement level at 21.9% more than the average monthly spending of P136.9 billion from January to October.

“The reforms that the Aquino Administration has introduced since it came to power have certainly made a significant impact: not only in terms of accelerating the pace of disbursements but also by deepening transparency and accountability in public financial management,” Abad said in a December 27 statement.

Total November expenditures grew by 10.7% year-on-year. Breakdown of the P166.9 billion spending is as follows:

  • P15.648 billion for interest payments, 4.6% lower than a year ago
  •  Non-interest disbursements increased by 12.6%

Total disbursements from January to November reached P1,535.875 billion, 14% more than a year ago. Below is the breakdown:

  • P1,253.538 billion for agency spending and general government operations (82% of the total expenditures), up 14.1% 
  • P282.337 billion for interest payments, down 4.6% 

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