THE Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) has reported that the national government’s budget deficit for the first 11 months of the year reached P1.069 trillion due to higher government spending while revenue collection was lower than last year.
Budget gap from January to November this year was more than double compared to the deficit in the same period in 2019 at P409.1 billion.
For the first 11 months of the year, public spending grew 11.59 percent to P3.686 trillion for the government’s “various COVID-19 financial assistance and recovery measures”.
“However, cumulative spending still fell short of the revised program for the period owing to the delayed implementation of some measures under the Bayanihan 2,” the BTr said.
Year-to-date revenue collection, on the other hand, decreased to P2.618 trillion this year from P2.894 trillion in 2019.
The BTr said despite the lower collection for the first 11 months of 2020, it breached the P2.5-trillion revised full-year target.
For November 2020 alone, budget deficit increased to P128.3 billion as public spending rose 2.3 percent while government collection declined by 19.35 percent.
“Revenue collection for the month slid by 19.35 percent or P59 billion year-over-year to P245.8 billion. Of the total, 96 percent or P235.9 billion was raised through taxes, while the remaining four percent or P9.9 billion was generated from non-tax collections,” BTr said in a statement.
On the other hand, government expenditures rebounded in November amounting to P374.1 billion mainly due to subsidy releases for unconditional cash transfer program and other COVID-19-related assistance in line with the Bayanihan 2. (PNA)
