THE national government's (NG) budget deficit rose in June, with spending continuing to outpace revenues, but remained slightly below the programmed ceiling.
Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) data released on Thursday showed that the shortfall reached P264.3 billion last month, 9.39 percent higher than the P241.6 billion recorded a year earlier.
Government expenditures increased by 5.51 percent to P578.7 billion from P548.5 billion while revenues rose 2.46 percent to P314.5 billion from P306.9 billion.
Year to date, the deficit was 2.79-percent higher — P786.8 billion from the P765.5 billion recorded January-June 2025 — but was lower than the programmed P788.2 billion.
“The NG’s fiscal performance remained on track in the first half of 2026,” the Treasury said in a statement.
Six-month revenues reached P2.388 trillion, up 5.67 percent from P2.260 trillion, but were short of the first-semester goal of P2.3885 trillion.
Tax revenues accounted for nearly 90 percent at P2.142 trillion, an increase of 5.38 percent from the year-earlier P2.032 trillion but 0.77 percent below the programmed P2.158 trillion.
The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) collected P210.7 billion in June, up 5.07 percent from P200.5 billion a year earlier.
This brought first-half collections to P1.631 trillion, 4.96 percent higher compared to the yearago P1.55 trillion. The BIR, however, was P22.6 billion short of the P1.654-trillion target for the period.
The Bureau of Customs posted stronger results, collecting P86.2 billion in June — an increase of 11.88 percent from P77.0 billion a year ago.
First-half collections reached P491.9 billion, exceeding the year-earlier P458.8 billion and surpassing the P484.8-billion program.
Non-tax revenues, meanwhile, plunged by 43.53 percent in June to P15.1 billion from P26.8 billion, largely due to lower Treasury income after dividends from government-owned and controlled corporations were remitted earlier this year.
To date, non-tax collections still increased 8.26 percent to P246.5 billion, exceeding the target by 7.09 percent.
Spending, meanwhile, climbed 4.94 percent to P3.175 trillion in January-June, nearly matching the programmed P3.177 trillion, with actual disbursements P1.6 billion, or 0.05 percent, below target.
Primary expenditures, which exclude interest payments, rose 3.09 percent to P2.691 trillion, slightly exceeding the government's target.
Interest payments increased 8.73 percent in June to P62.4 billion, bringing total debt servicing costs in the first six months of 2026 to P483.7 billion, up 16.6 percent from P414.8 billion in the same period last year.
Excluding interest payments, the national government's primary deficit stood at P201.9 billion in June while the cumulative tally narrowed to P303.1 billion from P350.7 billion.
