PHL swings back to budget deficit in Sept. – Finance Dept. 

The Philippines budget position swung back to a deficit in September, as government pushed for higher spending to support the economy, the Department of Finance said Wednesday.

 

In a report, the department said government incurred an P18.6-billion shortfall in September, down 43 percent from a year earlier, but a reversal of the P21.9 billion surplus in August. 

 

The September budget results brought the shortfall to P101.2 billion in the first nine months of the year, compared with the P144.5 billion deficit ceiling on program. 

 

Minus interest payments on its obligations, government posted a primary surplus of P10.6 billion in September, or P156.9 billion in January to September.

 

Growth on both revenue and expenditure sides marked a strong fiscal fundamentals, Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima said in a statement linked to the report.

 

"The September report shows an even healthier picture of government fiscal performance as our revenues posted a strong increase over last year's collections," Purisima said. 

 

"Coupled with strong growth in our expenditures over the first nine months of the year, we can see that the dynamism of our operations has yet to wane even as we approach the last quarter of 2013," he added.

 

Revenue collections to totaled P127.3 billion in September, up 20.9 percent year-on-year, while spending amounted to P145.9 billion – a 5.7 percent increase. 

 

Aggregate revenues reached P1.266 trillion in the first nine months, against P1.367 trillion in expenditures.

 

In September alone, the Bureau of Internal Revenue was responsible for P86 billion in collections and the Bureau of Customs for P25.7 billion.

 

The Bureau of Treasury posted P7.2 billion in income, and revenue from other offices amounted to P8.4 billion. – Siegfrid Alegado/VS, GMA News