Government Records More Than PHP30 Billion Budget Surplus In April

The April budget surplus helped reduce the country’s overall budget deficit from January to April, the BTr said.

Government Records More Than PHP30 Billion Budget Surplus In April

By PAGEONE Business Today
18
By PAGEONE Business Today
18

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The national government recorded a PHP31.4 billion budget surplus in April, helping reduce the January-to-April budget deficit, the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) said.

In its latest cash operations report released Tuesday, the BTr said the budget surplus in April was lower than the PHP67.3 billion recorded in the same month last year.

Expenditures rose by 11.14 percent, outpacing the 2.83 percent growth in government revenues, while revenues amounted to PHP536.8 billion, up from PHP522.1 billion last year.

Collections by the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) recorded a slight increase of 0.41 percent to PHP422.2 billion from PHP420.5 billion in April 2025.

The BTr attributed the slower increase to the extension of the filing and payment deadline for annual income tax returns (AITR) due to the declaration of a State of National Energy Emergency.

Collections by the Bureau of Customs (BOC) posted double-digit growth of 15.52 percent, rising to PHP86.3 billion from PHP74.7 billion last year.

The BOC’s strong performance was attributed to strengthened valuation and monitoring systems, as well as the continued digitalization of customs processes anchored on its Integrity, Accountability, and Modernization (IAM) Program.

Non-tax revenues, meanwhile, improved to PHP25.8 billion in April, up by 7.32 percent from the PHP24.1 billion recorded in the same month last year. This was supported by PHP160 million in restitution funds recovered from flood control projects and PHP623.9 million in privatization proceeds in April 2026.

Expenditures increased by 11.4 percent from PHP454.8 billion last year to PHP505.4 billion this year, driven by higher National Tax Allotment (NTA) shares for local government units, the Annual Block Grant for the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM), releases from the Local Government Support Fund, and increased budgetary support for government-owned and -controlled corporations (GOCCs), particularly the return of PHP60 billion in excess funds to PhilHealth.

The BTr said direct payments made by development partners to suppliers or contractors involved in various foreign-assisted railway projects of the Department of Transportation also contributed to the higher April 2026 disbursements.

January-to-April fiscal performance

For the first four months of the year, the budget deficit fell by 14.44 percent to PHP324.1 billion from the PHP378.7 billion shortfall recorded in January to April 2025.

Cumulative collections for the first four months grew by 9.99 percent to PHP1.67 trillion from PHP1.52 trillion recorded in the comparable period last year.

BIR collections rose to PHP1.14 trillion, surpassing the previous year’s PHP1.11 trillion.

Total BOC collections amounted to PHP325.7 billion, exceeding the PHP306.1 billion raised in the same period last year by 6.41 percent.

Cumulative non-tax collections reached PHP192 billion, more than double last year’s PHP90.7 billion, supported by early dividend remittances from some GOCCs.

Meanwhile, spending in the first four months of the year rose to PHP2 trillion, 5.12 percent higher than the PHP1.9 trillion disbursed in the same period last year. (PNA)

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