THE national government’s budget deficit climbed to P128.3 billion in November 2020 as public spending rebounded during the month, the Bureau of Treasury (BTr) said on Wednesday.
Data from the Treasury bureau showed that the shortfall was more than twice last year’s P60.9-billion budget gap, resulting in a cumulative budget deficit of P1.069 trillion, higher than the P409.1 billion recorded for the January-November 2019 period.
The year-to-date deficit, however, only made up 59 percent of the P1.815-trillion revised full-year program, it said.
Revenues slid by 19.35 percent or P59.0 billion to P245.8 billion year-over-year. Of the total, 96 percent or P235.9 billion was raised through taxes, while the remaining 4 percent or P9.9 billion was generated from non-tax collections.
Meanwhile, revenue of P2.617 trillion for the January-November period also lagged behind the P2.894 trillion generated in the equivalent period a year ago, but already breached the P2.520-trillion revised full-year target by 4 percent.
The Bureau of Internal Revenue contributed the bulk of revenues in November with P191.7 billion, a 17.40-percent decline from P232.1 billion a year earlier.
The Bureau of Customs contributed P43.7 billion, a 13.29-percent drop from P50.4 billion in November 2019.
Other offices (other non-tax including privatization proceeds and fees and charges) recorded P7.1 billion, a 52.77-percent contraction, mainly due to restrictions in national government collecting operations caused by the pandemic.
The bulk of government spending — P374.1 billion — was for primary expenditures, which went up by 2.30 percent from P365.6 billion a year earlier. BTr accounted this on the subsidy releases to the Land Bank of the Philippines for the implementation of the Unconditional Cash Transfer Program, to the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. for the National Health Insurance Program, as well as equity to government financial institutions for their assistance or lending programs in line with the implementation of Republic Act 11494 or the “Bayanihan to Recover as One Act” to help address the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic.
Interest payments, reaching P20.0 billion, accounted for the rest.