BIR, Customs fail to meet 2010 revenue targets

The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) collected P822.39 billion last year, lower than its revised goal of P860 billion, the Department of Finance (DOF) reported Monday. Still, BIR Commissioner Kim Henares is confident that the bureau would meet this year's revenue target of P940 billion. The collection of the government's main revenue agency last year was a tenth higher than the P750.3 billion it collected in 2009. "The improving trend last year gives [us] confidence that we can reach our target by the end of this year," Henares said. Meanwhile, the Bureau of Customs generated only P259 billion last year, lower than its revenue target of P280.7 billion, DOF records also showed. Last year's collection of the Customs Bureau was higher than the P220.3 billion it booked in 2009. Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima and Budget Secretary Florencio Abad are expected to announce government's revenues and expenditures for last year in the first week of February. Revenues totaled P1.104 trillion in January-November last year, up 8 percent from P1.021 trillion booked in the same period in 2009, according to Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) records. In November 2010 alone, government revenues rose to P111.5 billion from P96.3 billion posted in the same month in 2009, BTr said. The government, meanwhile, said it spent P1.374 trillion in January-November 2010, up 6 percent from P1.294 trillion in the comparative period in 2009. For November last year, the government disbursed P111.1 billion from the P101.5 billion it spent in the same period in 2009, BTr records showed. The government managed to register a budget surplus of P482 million in November last year — the second monthly surplus of the Aquino administration. In August last year, the government posted a budget surplus of P1.3 billion, government records showed. The budget surplus in November last year was a turnaround from the P6.4-billion budget deficit posted in November in 2009. Also, the November 2010 budget surplus was a reversal from the P10.5-billion budget deficit in October last year. The budget surplus in November last year brought the January-November fiscal position to a budget deficit of P269.8 billion, narrower than the P272.5 billion registered in the same period in 2009. This year, the Aquino administration is hoping to contain the budget deficit at P290 billion or 3.3 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) from last year's programmed ceiling of P325 billion or 3.9 percent of GDP. — JE/OMG, GMANews.TV