THE government’s budget balance reversed to a deficit in November as spending outpaced revenue, the Bureau of the Treasury reported on Thursday.
The P213-billion shortfall — from earnings of P338.3 billion and expenditures of P551.3 billion — reversed from October’s P6.3-billion surplus and was also wider than last year’s P93.3-billion deficit.
Year to date (YTD), the budget balance remained in deficit at P1.18 trillion, also higher than the P1.11-trillion shortfall recorded in January-November last year.
Revenues were 0.61 percent lower in November alone compared to the year-earlier P340.4 billion due to lower nontax collections. The previous year’s level included P23.8 billion in additional dividends from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP).
The January-November tally, however, rose to P4.1 trillion, 15.16 percent higher compared to the year-ago P3.6 trillion. It was also equivalent to 96.12 percent of the revised full-year target of P4.3 trillion.
“The national government is on track to surpass its revenue goal in 2024,” the Treasury said, adding that the YTD deficit, equivalent to 79.29 percent of the P1.5-trillion programmed for the year, “also remains well within the target.”
The Bureau of Internal Revenue accounted for P2.67 trillion of the 11-month earnings tally, P247.6 billion of which was collected in November. The amounts were 13.88 percent and 17.77 percent higher year on year (YoY), respectively.
“The YoY positive growth in the BIR collections for November 2024 can be attributed to the double-digit rise in collections from income taxes, value-added tax (VAT), excise taxes, and documentary stamp tax (DST),” the Treasury said.
“The increase in income tax can be attributed to the influx of taxpayers filing for their third quarterly income tax return on or before November 15 of the current taxable year,” it added.
The Bureau of Customs, meanwhile, saw November collections drop by 1.69 percent to P72.4 billion. Its year-to-date tally was still4.68 percent higher at P850 billion.
“The positive YTD growth can be primarily attributed to the higher YoY collections from import duties, VAT, and excise taxes as a result of a higher value of non-oil imports (net of rice), PHP/USD exchange rate, and value and volume of petroleum oil imports, among others,” the Treasury said.
Other offices’ collections edged up to P2.4 billion from P2.1 billion while the year-to-date tally rose 11.96 percent to P31.3 billion.
As for nontax revenues, Treasury collections dropped to P7.9 billion from P41.5 billion a year ago. This brought the bureau’s eleven-month income to P232.7 billion, higher than the year earlier P216.3 billion.
Other offices generated nontax revenues of P8.0 billion in November, down from P12.8 billion a year ago. Year to date, these earned P322.6 billion, also up from the year-earlier P165.0 billion.
As for spending, November’s 27.13-percent rise was said to have been the result of higher capital expenditures for road and defense infrastructure projects, social protection and education related programs, as well as personnel services requirements.
“The larger National Tax Allotment shares of local government units and the release of special shares in the proceeds of national taxes also contributed to the faster November outturn,” the Treasury added.
January-November expenditures grew by 12.96 percent to P5.28 trillion.
Primary expenditures accounted for P484.6 billion of November’s spending, up from P385.1 billion a year earlier. Year to date, these rose to P4.58 trillion from P4.11 trillion.
Interest payments, which accounted for the rest of expenditures, rose to P66.7 billion from P48.5 billion in November for a 11-month total of P705.3 billion from P567.7 billion a year ago.
Excluding interest payments, the national government recorded a primary deficit of P146.3 billion for November, a year-on-year increase from P44.7 billion.
The year-to-date primary deficit of P471.5 billion fell from P543.5 billion a year earlier.
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