THE national government recorded a P165.4-billion budget surplus in January as revenue growth edged up and spending markedly fell, Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) data showed.
The result — higher than the P68.4 billion surplus recorded a year earlier — came as revenues picked up by 0.36 percent to P468.9 billion from P467.1 billion in January 2025, the Treasury reported late on Thursday.
Spending, meanwhile, fell by 23.9 percent to P305.5 billion from P398.8 billion as transfers to local government units were rescheduled.
The Treasury said the plunge was also due to base effects as accounts payables were settled and disbursements were frontloaded a year earlier ahead of an election ban.
Taxes accounted for 94.45 percent of the revenue collections for the month, amounting to P442.8 billion — a 1.21-percent increase from P437.5 billion.
The Bureau of Internal Revenue accounted for the bulk at P358.7 billion, up 1.01 percent compared to a year earlier and attributed to the tax agency’s intensified digitalization and tax administration efforts.
The Bureau of Customs collected P80.9 billion, improving by 2.13 percent from P79.3 billion last year. The Treasury said that sustained enforcement actions and improved compliance and tax administration measures contributed.
Non-tax collections, meanwhile, totaled P26.0 billion and were down 12.08 percent from the year-earlier P3.6 billion. This was blamed on reduced Treasury income and the national government’s share of proceeds from the Malampaya gas field.
Primary expenditures (net of interest payments) made up 57.88 percent or P175.7 billion of the total expenditures in January. It was 40.32-percent lower than the P294.4 billion posted the same month last year.
Interest payments hit P127.8 billion, up 22.39 percent from P104.4 billion. The Treasury said this was caused by new debt incurred to cover the previous year’s deficit and changes in the schedule of coupon payments after refinancing.
Excluding interest payments, the primary surplus rose by 69.67 percent to P293.2 billion in January from P172.8 billion.