Philippines goes beyond deficit cap set for 2009
11/18/2009 | 06:00 PM
(Updated) Spending limits set for the year has been breached after the Philippine government collected fewer taxes and released more funds for infrastructure projects.
From January to October, the budget shortfall reached P266.1 billion – a figure higher than the P250 billion deficit cap set for this year and more than four times the amount reported during the same period last year.
For the month of October alone, the national government spent P28.5 billion more than it earned, a figure that is more than three times the shortfall reported for the same month last year.
Expenses for the month reached P114.1 billion, 12.3 percent higher than October 2008’s P101.6 billion, Department of Finance Secretary Margarito B. Teves said in a briefing held on Wednesday.
During the ten-month period, revenue collections – sourced primarily from the government’s tax and customs bureaus – have fallen 4.8 percent to P925.4 billion.
The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR), the national government’s largest revenue source, has failed to meet its collection targets for the ten-month period and for October.
Revenues collected by the BIR from January to October reached P798.5 billion, 5.1 percent lower than its targets.
Similarly, the agency’s financial goals for October have also been unmet after collections reached P54.9 billion, 3.6 percent lower than targeted.
Collections of the Bureau of Customs (BOC) for the ten-month period were also behind 15.7 percent after having earned only P183.9 billion.
Government revenues were reduced after various laws and policies allowed corporations to pay a lower income tax rate and to authorize concessions for salaried workers.
During this year, the corporate income tax was cut to 30 percent from the previous 35.
Minimum wage earners no longer formed part of the tax base, further cutting the tax base, even as they were allowed to increase exemptions.
In the meantime, public spending for infrastructure – particularly the repair of roads and bridges damaged by a series of typhoons – has gone up to P1.91 trillion, 15.1 percent more than the P1.034 trillion worth of allotments made during the same period one year ago.
This has prompted Teves to say that the deficit may reach P300 billion. - GMANews.TV
From January to October, the budget shortfall reached P266.1 billion – a figure higher than the P250 billion deficit cap set for this year and more than four times the amount reported during the same period last year.
For the month of October alone, the national government spent P28.5 billion more than it earned, a figure that is more than three times the shortfall reported for the same month last year.
Expenses for the month reached P114.1 billion, 12.3 percent higher than October 2008’s P101.6 billion, Department of Finance Secretary Margarito B. Teves said in a briefing held on Wednesday.
During the ten-month period, revenue collections – sourced primarily from the government’s tax and customs bureaus – have fallen 4.8 percent to P925.4 billion.
The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR), the national government’s largest revenue source, has failed to meet its collection targets for the ten-month period and for October.
Revenues collected by the BIR from January to October reached P798.5 billion, 5.1 percent lower than its targets.
Similarly, the agency’s financial goals for October have also been unmet after collections reached P54.9 billion, 3.6 percent lower than targeted.
Collections of the Bureau of Customs (BOC) for the ten-month period were also behind 15.7 percent after having earned only P183.9 billion.
Government revenues were reduced after various laws and policies allowed corporations to pay a lower income tax rate and to authorize concessions for salaried workers.
During this year, the corporate income tax was cut to 30 percent from the previous 35.
Minimum wage earners no longer formed part of the tax base, further cutting the tax base, even as they were allowed to increase exemptions.
In the meantime, public spending for infrastructure – particularly the repair of roads and bridges damaged by a series of typhoons – has gone up to P1.91 trillion, 15.1 percent more than the P1.034 trillion worth of allotments made during the same period one year ago.
This has prompted Teves to say that the deficit may reach P300 billion. - GMANews.TV
