DOF claims fiscal consolidation has paid off

The Aquino administration’s strategy in consolidating the government’s fiscal position has paid off, Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima said Wednesday.   A reflection of that is improved national spending in the first quarter of the year, Department of Finance (DOF) data showed.   The national government incurred a budget deficit of P33.909 billion in the first three months of 2012, which compares with the programmed spending of P82.808 billion for the period and the P26.197-billion deficit recorded a year earlier.   The deficit was P28.621 billion in March alone, from P18.131 billion in the same month of 2011, the department said. —With Jon Lindley Agustin/VS, GMA News