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(UPDATE as of 4:23 p.m.) MANILA, Philippines - The Aquino administration incurred a fiscal deficit of P33.909 billion in the first quarter of the year, well below its ceiling for the period.
In its fiscal performance report, the Department of Finance on Wednesday said the government’s fiscal gap last month reached P28.621 billion, thus accounting for bulk of the first-quarter deficit. The government set a three-month deficit ceiling of P82.808 billion.
Government expenditures rose 13 percent to P394.883 billion in the January to March period from P258.55 in the comparable period last year. The first-quarter spending however was P45.7 billion less than the P440.58 billion programmed for the period.
In March alone, the government disbursed P144.05 billion, 15 percent more than the P125.28 billion spent in the same month last year.
First-quarter revenues reached P360.97 billion, or P3.19 billion more than the P357.780 billion goal for the period. This was in spite of the shortfall of the Bureaus of Internal Revenue (BIR) and of Customs, which raised P229.04 billion and P69.529 billion, respectively. BIR was supposed to raise P232.667 billion, while Customs, P81.353 billion.
The Bureau of Treasury, which made up for the slack in BIR and Customs’ collections, generated P37.760 billion as against a target of P21.686 billion.
“The first quarter fiscal data affirms our strategy of consolidating our fiscal position while at the same time investing heavily in key social and economic services,” Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima said in a statement Wednesday. At end-March, the government enjoyed a primary surplus of P64.580 billion.
“These developments only strengthen our resolve to continue with our initiatives not only to attain investment grade rating and lower our borrowing costs, but also to boost investments in social and economic services to improve productivity and economic growth,” Purisima said.
To sustain the government’s fiscal consolidation, Congress has to enact “two vital revenue bills” – the first increasing excise taxes on tobacco and alcoholic products, and the second reducing the amount of tax perks given to investors, the finance secretary said.
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