Manila, Philippines – The Philippine government has reported a budget surplus of 6.3 billion pesos in October, a significant turnaround from the 34.4 billion peso deficit recorded in the same month last year.

The Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) revealed this in its latest cash operations report released on November 28. According to the BTr, the cumulative budget deficit from January to October this year has been reduced to 96.39 billion pesos, representing 64.94% of the annual target of 148 billion pesos.

October revenues reached 47.31 billion pesos, a 22.63% increase year-on-year. The BTr attributed this growth to higher tax and non-tax revenues, primarily driven by increased collections from the Bureau of Internal Revenue and the Bureau of Customs.

Tax revenues grew by 16.94% year-on-year to 41.49 billion pesos, while non-tax revenues surged by 87.65% to 5.83 billion pesos. For the ten-month period, cumulative revenues totaled 3.76 trillion pesos, a 16.8% increase compared to the same period last year.

Of the total annual revenues, 3.23 trillion pesos came from taxes, representing an 11.40% increase. The remaining 539.4 billion pesos was from non-tax sources, which grew at a faster pace of 64.93%.

Meanwhile, October disbursements amounted to 46.68 billion pesos, an 11.08% increase year-on-year. The BTr explained that this was due to higher personnel services costs, including the first tranche of salary adjustments for government employees and the performance-based bonuses of Department of Education personnel for 2022.

“Increased disbursements were also attributed to the implementation of infrastructure projects of the Department of Public Works and Highways, foreign-assisted railway projects of the Department of Transportation, and social protection and health programs of the Department of Social Welfare and Development and the Department of Health,” the BTr added.

From January to October, total disbursements amounted to 4.73 trillion pesos, an 11.52% increase. This is equivalent to 81.3% of the annual target of 5.75 trillion pesos.

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