Manila: The national government recorded a sustained growth in revenue collections in the first nine months of the year, keeping the fiscal deficit below the program during the period, the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) said Thursday. In its latest cash operations report, the BTr said total revenue collections from January to September this year reached PHP3.37 trillion, up by 2.24 percent from the PHP3.30 trillion in the same period last year.
According to Philippines News Agency, the increase in revenue collections was driven by higher tax collections. "This makes revenue performance on track to hit the full-year program of PHP4.52 trillion," said the BTr. Tax revenues accounted for the majority of collections at PHP3.05 trillion, posting an 8.56 percent increase from the previous year. The Bureau of Internal Revenue's (BIR) collection increased by 10.8 percent to PHP2.32 trillion, driven by increased collections from corporate income tax, personal income tax, value-added tax, excise tax on tobacco, and percentage tax on banks/financial institutions. Collections of the Bureau of Customs (BOC) also grew by 1.59 percent to PHP701.7 billion.
Non-tax collections reached PHP314.1 billion, falling by 34.71 percent due to the base effect of extraordinary non-recurring remittances in 2024. The BTr said, however, that non-tax revenues already exceeded the Fiscal Year 2025 program of PHP306.5 billion, mainly due to higher Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) income sourced from dividend remittances, national government shares from the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation's (PAGCOR) and Manila International Airport Authority's (MIAA) profits, and income from interest on NG deposits and BTr investment operations.
The BTr said the growth in revenues kept the fiscal deficit at PHP1.12 trillion, well below the PHP1.26 trillion program for the period. "The deficit is expected to remain within the full-year target of PHP1.56 trillion by year-end, underscoring the government's firm commitment to fiscal discipline while maintaining strong support for economic growth and priority development programs," the BTr said.
Expenditures were also highlighted by the BTr, noting that total disbursements as of end-September reached PHP4.48 trillion, up by 5.18 percent from last year. "While some Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) projects faced implementation challenges, the government has in place catch-up measures to keep overall spending aligned with the government's priorities and ensure that expenditures continue to drive economic growth," the BTr said.
The BTr noted that disbursements declined in September due to the lower spending performance of the DPWH, following the agency's ongoing validation of the status of completed projects and strict verification of progress billings and payments claims. The increase in interest payments and allotment to local government units due to the higher National Tax Allotment shares for 2025, however, slightly offset the posted contraction.
