THE government’s budget balance swung into a surplus in March, reversing from two straight months of shortfalls, Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) data showed on Tuesday.
At P31.4 billion — from revenues of P536.8 billion and expenditures of P505.4 billion — the balance rebounded from March’s P349.7-billion deficit but was slightly lower than the year-earlier surplus of P67.3 billion.
“The turnout was underpinned by an 11.14 percent year-over-year increase in expenditures, which outpaced the modest 2.83 percent growth in government receipts,” the Treasury said in a statement.
The year-to-date budget balance remained in deficit at P324.1 billion but narrowed from the P378.7 billion recorded in January-April 2025.
April revenues were 2.83 percent higher than the year-ago P522.1 billion and March’s P305.1 billion. Spending, meanwhile, rose by 11.14 percent from P454.8 billion but was lower than the month-earlier P654.8 billion.
Year to date, revenues and expenditures grew by 9.99 percent and 5.12 percent, respectively, to P1.67 trillion and P1.97 trillion from P1.52 trillion and P1.89 trillion.
Revenues from taxes grew by 2.62 percent to P511.0 billion in April from P498.0 billion and were up 3.54 percent to P1.48 trillion from P1.43 trillion year to date.
The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) accounted for the bulk of April tax revenues at P422.2 billion, 0.41 percent higher than the P420.5 billion recorded a year ago. It was also higher than March’s P187.3 billion.
“The slower growth for the period can be partly attributed to the extension of the filing/payment deadline of AITR (annual income tax return) in view of the declaration of the State of National Energy Emergency,” the Treasury said.
The filing deadline was moved to May 15 from April 15 by the BIR to ease the burden on taxpayers dealing with a surge in fuel prices due to the war in the Middle East.
To date, the tax agency’s collections grew 2.74 percent to P1.14 trillion from P1.11 trillion a year earlier.
The Bureau of Customs (BOC), meanwhile, saw April collections surge by 15.52 percent to P86.3 billion from P74.7 billion a year earlier. This pushed the January-April tally up 6.41 percent to P325.7 billion from P306.1 billion.
“BOC’s revenue performance was anchored by its strengthened valuation and monitoring systems, and continued digitalization of customs processes, anchored by its Integrity, Accountability, and Modernization Program,” the Treasury said.
The tax take from other offices dropped by 10.13 percent to P2.5 billion and was 4.52 percent higher at P13.1 billion year to date.
Nontax revenues, meanwhile, rose by 7.32 percent to P25.8 billion in April from P24.1 billion a year earlier. Year to date, it also accelerated by 111.59 percent to P192.0 billion from P90.7 billion in January-April 2025.
Treasury collections alone, on the other hand, dropped by 7.02 percent to P12.9 billion in April from P13.8 billion a year ago. This brought the four-month tally to P142.8 billion, up 209.34 percent from P46.2 billion.
Other offices generated nontax revenues of P13.0 billion in April, 26.7 percent higher compared to the year-earlier P10.2 billion. The four-month total of P49.1 billion was also higher by 10.25 percent from P44.5 billion.
Primary expenditures, meanwhile, accounted for P441.9 billion of spending in April, up 8.22 percent from P408.3 billion a year earlier.
Interest payments, which accounted for the rest, rose 36.77 percent to P63.5 billion from P46.4 billion.
Excluding interest payments, the national government recorded a primary surplus of P12.6 billion for the first four months of the year, a reversal from last year’s deficit of P91.3 billion.
