Philippine budget shortfall reaches 472.80 mln USD in September

The Philippine government has posted a budget deficit of 22.1 billion pesos (472.80 million U.S. dollars) in September, bringing the year-to-date balance to a deficit of 25.5 billion pesos (545.54 million U.S. dollars), a senior government official said Thursday.

The total revenue for September reached 164.1 billion pesos (3.51 billion U.S. dollars), 6 percent higher than a year ago figure, while expenditures amounted to 186.2 billion pesos (3.98 billion U.S. dollars), expanding 17 percent year-on-year, said Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima.

Meanwhile, the government generated total collections of 1.61 trillion pesos (34.44 billion U.S. dollars) from January to September, reflecting a 13 percent growth year-on-year. Disbursements for the first three quarters of the year hit 1.63 trillion pesos (34.87 billion U.S. dollars), or 12 percent higher from a year ago level.

With the pending bill in Congress to lower the income tax rate, Purisima said piecemeal revenue eroding measures are fiscally unsustainable in the long run.

The country is still at a tax to GDP (gross domestic product) level of 13.6 percent in 2014, far from the target of achieving at least a 16 percent tax to GDP ratio in 2016 to fund social commitments and other demands for public goods in the future, he said.

"We agree with the need to reform our tax system-- but since the problems with it are structural in nature, we urge fiscal responsibility in considering tax reform in a comprehensive and holistic manner," the official stressed. Endit