The national government announced a budget surplus of P66.8 billion in April 2023, which far exceeded the previous year’s surplus of P4.9 billion for the same month, as the growth of revenue collection outpaced that of government expenditures.
Moreover, the cumulative deficit decreased by 34.57 percent reaching P204.1 billion, which was P107.8 billion less than the P311.9 billion budget gap incurred during the same four-month period last year.
April witnessed actual government revenue collections of P440.7 billion, reflecting a substantial growth of 26.66 percent or P92.7 billion compared to the previous year. Furthermore, the year-to-date revenue for the January to April period improved to P1.3 trillion, showing a year-over-year growth of 11.22 percent.
Taxes contributed the majority, amounting to P1.1 trillion, making up 89.18 percent of total collections, while non-tax sources contributed 10.82 percent or P136.3 billion.
The Bureau of Internal Revenue witnessed a substantial improvement in its April collection, reaching P336 billion, which is 40.24 percent higher than the same month the previous year. It total collections as of the end of April amounted to P841.2 billion, surpassing the previous year’s figures by 13.31 percent.
Meanwhile, the Bureau of Customs experienced modest growth in collections, with a 2.87 percent increase of P1.9 billion in April 2023, totaling P67.6 billion. This brings the year-to-date total to P281.4 billion, 10.68 percent or P27.2 billion higher than the 2022 figure.
National government disbursements for April rose nine percent to P373.9 billion , largely due to the subsidy release to PhilHealth, larger capital expenditures of the Department of Public Works and Highways and Department of Transportation, as well as higher interest payments for the month.
The total expenditures for the four-month period reached P1.5 trillion, up 1.33 percent.