Source: www.mb.com.ph
MANILA, Philippines — Finance Secretary Cesar V. Purisima said Monday that the national government will keep its programmed P290-billion budget deficit for this year despite the lower than expected financing gap in 2010.
Purisima said in an interview with reporters that he is confident that the government will meet this year’s budget shortfall, which is equivalent to 3.2 percent of the country’s output or gross domestic product (GDP).
“I believe in the coming years will be within the targets and we’re sticking to our targets,” Purisima said when asked on the possible revision on the governments fiscal assumptions due to improved 2010 budget gap.
Purisima also said that the revenue collections at the government’s two main tax agencies, the Bureau of Internal Revenue and Bureau of Customs, rose at a faster pace than the country’s GDP last year.
The finance department is expected report the country’s fiscal performance for 2010 next month.
But Finance Undersecretary Gil S. Beltran earlier said the Aquino administration may have ended 2010 with more than P5 billion below the P325 billion budget deficit ceiling.
Beltran attributed the below programmed budget deficit on improved revenue performance.
Budget and Management Secretary Florencio B. Abad had said the government’s spending last month was at a reasonable level, adding the total spending in December may help the government to end the year with a lower than the P325 billion budget deficit ceiling.
In January to November 2010, the government’s budget deficit stood at P269.8 billion, which was way below by P55.2 billion compared with the full-year budget gap program.
In November, the government had managed to register a small budget surplus of P482 million as revenue climbed by 15.8 percent to P111.5 billion while spending rose following a decline in October.
Abad earlier said the government has enough spending room last month after the surplus in November.
But he said the government will keep its 2010 record budget deficit ceiling, which is equivalent to 3.9 percent of GDP.
Several economists have already projected that the government may end the year with a lower than programmed budget gap after the Aquino administration implemented its “austerity measures.”
President Benigno Aquino’s administration plans to increase revenue and spending this year as it seeks investments in roads, bridges and railways to develop an economy where the World Bank estimates one in every four lives on less than $1.25 a day.
Posts
