May 2022 nat’l gov’t fiscal deficit down to P146.8-B

The national government (NG) registered a budget deficit of PHP146.8 billion in May, down by 26.72 percent from PHP200.3 billion recorded a year ago due to double-digit revenue growth alongside the 1.10-percent contraction in government expenditures.

The resulting year-to-date (YTD) budget gap also declined by 18.99 percent or PHP107.5 billion to PHP458.7 billion from the previous year’s outturn of PHP566.2 billion.

Total revenues grew by 18.91 percent to PHP304.9 billion for the month compared to PHP256.4 billion collected in May 2021.

Year-to-date collection amounting to PHP1,437.2 billion also reflected a 15.46 percent or PHP192.4 billion improvement over last year’s comparable revenue performance.

Ninety percent (90 percent) or PHP1,289.6 billion of the total collections was sourced from taxes while the remaining 10 percent or PHP147.6 billion came from non-tax revenues.

The Bureau of Internal Revenue’s (BIR) net collections amounted to PHP216.6 billion, notching a 17.91 percent or PHP32.9 billion increase from the PHP183.7 billion logged in the same month last year.

Likewise, BIR’s total collection of PHP959 billion as of end-May beat last year’s performance for the same period by 9.92 percent or PHP86.6 billion.

The Bureau of Customs (BOC) collected PHP66.3 billion in May, registering year-on-year growth of 36.35 percent or PHP17.7 billion, the highest growth achieved since the beginning of the year.

This brought BOC’s cumulative collections to PHP320.5 billion as of end-May 2022, 28.42 percent or PHP70.9 billion above the previous year’s outcome of PHP249.6 billion.

The Bureau of the Treasury’s (BTr) income for the month amounting to PHP8.9 billion was lower by 28.22 percent or PHP3.5 billion year-on-year largely due to lower dividend remittances.

Nevertheless, BTr’s year-to-date collection of PHP83.4 billion still grew by 37.08 percent or PHP22.5 billion compared to last year’s PHP60.8 billion on account of higher dividend remittances, NG share from PAGCOR income as well as income from Bond Sinking Fund (BSF) investments.

May 2022 collections from other offices (other non-tax including privatization proceeds and fees and charges) increased by 8.35 percent over last year at PHP10.4 billion, bringing January to May collections to PHP64.2 billion, also higher by 18.49 percent or PHP10 billion over the same period a year ago.

The PHP451.7 billion national government expenditure for the month was slightly lower by 1.10 percent or PHP5 billion compared to last year’s PHP456.7 billion.

Nevertheless, year-to-date disbursements of PHP1,895.9 billion still outperformed the January-May 2021 level by 4.69 percent or PHP84.9 billion.