Govt’s budget recorded a surplus for the month of January
In January, the government marked an impressive budget surplus of P88 billion, nearly doubling the previous year’s surplus of P45.7 billion. This significant achievement was driven by a remarkable 21.15% year-over-year increase in revenue collection, surpassing the 10.39% growth in government spending, as reported by the Treasury bureau.
Revenue collections for January amounted to P421.8 billion, up from P348.2 billion in the corresponding period the year before. Meanwhile, expenditures also saw an uptick, reaching P333.9 billion compared to P302.4 billion in the previous year.
Tax revenues constituted the lion’s share, contributing 91.31% of the total revenue, with the remaining 8.69% sourced from non-tax collections. Specifically, the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) recorded a substantial 31.35% increase in collections, reaching P308.4 billion, primarily attributed to the adjustment in VAT remittance from monthly to quarterly, which resulted in the crediting of the fourth quarter of 2023 collections into January 2024.
The Bureau of Customs also experienced a modest revenue growth of 3.98% to P73.4 billion, attributed to enhanced customs valuation systems, strengthened border protection measures, and improved trade facilitation efforts.
However, Treasury collections declined by 5.73% to P16.7 billion due to decreased income from interest on national government deposits and investments, although partially offset by higher government share from Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (Pagcor) income. Other offices contributed P19.9 billion in revenue for January, down by 11.02%, primarily due to reduced collections from the national government share from Malampaya proceeds.
Turning to expenditures, primary expenditures accounted for 77.77% of the total at P259.6 billion, up from P255.4 billion a year earlier. Meanwhile, net interest payments (IP) constituted the remaining 22.3%, rising to P74.2 billion from P47.0 billion, primarily due to the net effect of premiums from the previous year’s reissuance of Treasury bonds and global bonds issued during the same period.
As a percentage of revenue and expenditures, interest payments for January increased to 17.60% and 22.23%, respectively, compared to the previous year’s levels of 13.49% and 15.53%. Excluding interest payments, the national government recorded a substantial primary surplus of P162.2 billion for January, marking a 74.91% increase year-on-year, driven by the robust revenue performance during the period.
Business News: Govt’s budget recorded a surplus for the month of January
