Manila: The government's budget gap rose 7.38 percent on an annual basis in end-November 2025 as growth of spending surpassed tax collections, data released by the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) Tuesday showed. Total revenues to date rose 1.09 percent to nearly PHP4.15 trillion, but expenditures rose by 2.49 percent to PHP5.4 trillion. This resulted in a budget deficit of PHP1.26 trillion.

According to Philippines News Agency, of the total tax revenues, the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR), which collects around 70 percent of taxes, collected PHP2.91 trillion, up 8.92 percent year-on-year. The Bureau of Customs (BOC) posted a 1.12-percent increase in collections to PHP859.5 billion, and the Other Offices reported PHP33.4 billion, up 6.71 percent. Non-tax revenues during the said period declined by 36.85 percent to PHP350.6 billion.

For November 2025 alone, revenues rose 0.72 percent to PHP340.7 billion. BIR collected PHP254.3 billion, up 2.70 percent; while revenues of the BOC reached PHP74.9 billion, up 3.35 percent; and Other Offices, PHP2.3 billion, a decline of 2.77 percent. The budget gap last November went down by 26.02 percent to PHP157.6 billion.

Michael Ricafort, Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation (RCBC) chief economist, in a report, said the decline in the government's budget gap 'could suggest improved fiscal performance, largely attributed to lower government expenditures by 9.6 percent year-on-year that could signal more disciplined spending amid anti-corruption measures and other reforms to improve governance standards.' He said the average budget gap per month since the start of this year is around PHP114.9 billion.

'Thus, there is still a good chance of meeting the budget deficit target for full year 2025 of PHP1.56 trillion, or a total of PHP296.3 billion to go for the final one month of 2025,' he said.