THE government’s budget deficit for 2021 went northward in the face of massive expenditures for COVID-19 recovery measures but with less revenue collection.
Based on data from the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr), the government’s budget deficit ballooned to P1.67 trillion, or 21.78 percent, equivalent to a P298.7-billion increase compared to the government’s P1.37 trillion deficit in 2020.
The 2021 budget shortfall is equivalent to 8.61 percent of the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
According to the BTr, the government deficit grew due to the 10.60-percent increase in expenditures although revenue collections made a slight increase such as in revenue in taxes that reached only 5.24 percent.
The BTr pointed to the government’s expenses that reached P4.675 trillion from January up to December of last year.
Among these expenses include infrastructure and other capital expenditures, the procurement of COVID-19 vaccines, support to government financial institutions for its lending assistance programs, and higher internal revenue allotment (IRA) shares of local government units.
The government’s revenue collections, on the other hand, grew by 5.24 percent or P149.6 billion in 2021 that reached P3.005 trillion compared to the P2.885 trillion in 2022. This is still higher than the 4.30 percent compared to the target of P2.881 trillion.
According to the Treasury, about 91 percent or P2.7 trillion of the overall revenue collection was reached due to taxes while 9 percent came from non-tax sources.
However, despite the increase in the 2021 collection of the Bureau of Internal Revenue that is at P2.078 trillion, this still falls short of the target of P2.081 trillion.