The Bureau of
the Treasury (BTr) reported that the National Government’s (NG) budget
deficit for the first quarter
of 2023 declined by 14.51
percent compared to the
same period in 2022 on
the back of increased revenue collections during
the first three months of
the year. The cumulative
budget gap for the first
quarter of 2023 stood at
PHP270.9 billion.
Ye a r – t o – d a t e
(YTD) revenue collections
from January to March
2023 reached PHP818.7
billion, surpassing the
revenue collections in the
same period last year by
4.38 percent or PHP34.3
billion.
Tax revenues
accounted for 87.89 percent or PHP719.5 billion,
while non-tax revenues
made up 12.11 percent or
PHP99.2 billion.
The Bureau of
Internal Revenue (BIR)’s
collection of PHP505.2
billion topped the previous
year’s record for the same
period by 0.48 percent or
PHP2.4 billion.
The Bureau of
Customs (BOC)’s overall
collections of PHP213.8
billion as of end-March
saw a 13.40 percent or
PHP25.3 billion increase
from last year’s period.
However, BTr
revenues declined by
19.94 percent or PHP9.7
billion from the previous
year’s PHP48.7 billion due
to the high base effect of
dividend remittances in
2022.
“The government
is constantly working to
find ways to improve the
efficiency and transparency of our collection systems to achieve our fiscal
targets,” said Finance
Secretary Benjamin Diokno.
Non-tax collections from other offices
(including privatization
proceeds and fees and
charges), which increased
to PHP22.0 billion in
March 2023 from PHP16.7
billion last year, led to a
higher cumulative revenue of PHP60.1 billion,
rising by 58.59 percent or
PHP22.2 billion year-overyear. DOF.GOV
