July budget gap down 45% to ₧47.8B–BTr By Jasper Emmanuel Y. Arcalas @jearcalas
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HE national government's budget deficit in July was slashed by nearly 45 percent to P47.8 billion from P86.8 billion on the back of higher revenue collections, according to the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr). In its latest report, the Treasury said the rise in state revenue collections in July continued to outpace the increase in its expenditures during the reference period. “The year-to-date [YTD] fiscal performance resulted in a cumulative budget gap of P599.5 billion, also down by 21.22 percent
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or P161.5 billion compared to the P761.0-billion shortfall registered in the first seven months of the previous year,” the Treasury said on Thursday. The Treasury noted that the national government's (NG) July revenue collection rose by a third to P411.7 billion from P308.6 billion in the same month of last year. The Treasury attributed the P103.1-billion increase in state revenues to higher tax and nontax collections. Tax collections in July rose by 23.18 percent year-on-year to P348.5 billion from P282.9 billion, Treasury data showed. The more than a fifth increase in
July collections raised the state’s YTD collection to P2.271 trillion, 11.58 percent over last year's P2.036 trillion. “Taxes comprising the biggest portion [88.74 percent] of total revenue expanded by 10.52 percent with the remaining balance of 11.26 percent [P255.8 billion] coming from non-tax revenues, which also improved by 20.72 percent,” the Treasury said. Collections (net of refund) made by the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) accounted for the bulk of the state's tax revenues in July as it reached P273.1 billion. The amount was 38.37 percent higher than the P197.4 billion that BIR collected in July 2022.
“This growth translated into a YTD improvement of 12.21 percent or P162.4 billion, bringing the agency’s total collection to P1.5 trillion,” the Treasury said. The Bureau of Customs (BOC), meanwhile, registered a 12.61-percent decline in its July collections that settled at P73.1 billion from P83.6 billion last year. “Nevertheless, BOC still managed to improve its cumulative collection to P506.5 billion for the [January-July] period, growing by 5.45 percent or P26.2 billion from the previous year’s accomplishment of P480.3 billion,” the Treasury said. See “July,” A2
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Friday, September 1, 2023 Vol. 18 No. 319
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DROVE AUG INFLATION By Cai U. Ordinario
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@caiordinario
‘GOOD DISTRIBUTION, CUTTING RED TAPE TO CUT POWER COST’
XPENSIVE rice and fuel as well as weather disturbances, among other factors, may have led to faster inflation in August 2023, according to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP). In its month-ahead inflation forecast, BSP expects inflation to average 4.8 to 5.6 percent in August 2023. Inflation slowed to 4.7 percent in July from a peak of 8.7 percent in January 2023. The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) earlier warned that rice may again be the cause of higher inflation in the coming months as data showed prices returned to levels that were seen prior to the implementation of a law that sought to bring down the price of the staple. "Higher prices of rice and other agricultural commodities due to weather disturbances, sharp rise in fuel prices as well as increased transport costs owing to higher train fares and toll rates, and the peso depreciation are the primary sources of upward price pressures in August," BSP said. PSA data showed rice inflation averaged 4.2 percent in July 2023, the highest since February 2019 when the increase in the commodity’s prices was at 4.5 percent. The Rice Trade Liberalization (RTL) Act was implemented in March 2019. (Full story here: https://businessmirror. com.ph/2023/08/04/rice-price-hike-maydampen-momentum-to-tame-inflation/) The Department of Agriculture (DA) earlier said rice and corn, the two most important staples in the country, suffered the brunt of typhoon Egay. The typhoon affected 67,528 metric tons (MT) of rice valued at P3 billion, while corn losses reached 124,576 MT valued at P2.3 billion. See “BSP,” A2
By Andrea E. San Juan
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@andreasanjuan
HE Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI) has laid out proposals to bring down power costs in the country, such as the efficient distribution of power across the nation and reducing bureaucracy for would-be investors in the energy sector. PCCI President George T. Barcelon said the government should focus on addressing the issue of supply. “I think there’s a mismatch on the supply and demand in such a way that [in] the Mindanao area, the baseload power generation is higher than demand,” Barcelon said at a
media briefing on Thursday. The PCCI chief cited a need to improve the grid system so that whenever there’s an excess in the baseload generation, it can be shared with other regions across the country. Barcelon also stressed there are “certain areas” in the (Electric Power Industry Reform Act) Epira law that must be tweaked. “There are some gray areas wherein the law states clearly if you are paid for power generation, you cannot be a distributor. But there are some gray areas on that,” he added. The PCCI head underscored the need to look into the efficiency behind the distribution of power in the country. See “Good,” A2
Marcos to hold talks with 4 Asian leaders By Samuel P. Medenilla
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WATERWORLD, AGAIN On Thursday, August 31, 2023, heavy rainfall led to flooding along sections of Araneta Avenue in Barangay Tatalon, Quezon City. The intensifying effects of Severe Tropical Storm Hanna (international name Haikui), in conjunction with two other tropical cyclones beyond the Philippine Area of Responsibility, are amplifying the southwest monsoon (habagat), resulting in rain showers and strong winds across various regions of the country, as reported by the weather bureau. NONOY LACZA
@sam_medenilla
RESIDENT Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. is set to hold bilateral meetings with the leaders of Cambodia, South Korea, Timor Leste and Vietnam during his participation at the 43rd Association of Southeast Asian Nation (Asean) Summit and its related summits in Indonesia next week. In a press briefing in Malacañang on Thursday, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said the chief executive will meet with Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet to congratulate the latter on his assumption of office and discuss other possible partnerships. He is also scheduled for bilateral talks with South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol to discuss similar cooperation in time for the 75th year anniversary of the establishment of the diplomatic relations between the Philippines
and Republic of Korea. Marcos will also be thanking South Korea for its US$300,000 donation to help the government response to typhoon Egay (International name: Doksuri) and its plan to donate 750 metric tons of rice to the Philippines through the Asean Plus Three, rice reserve arrangement. The country is currently eyeing more rice importation to address its low buffer stock of the food staple. Also in the President's itinerary is a meeting with Timor Leste Prime Minister Kay Rala Xanana Gusmão to discuss Timor Leste's application to become a member of Asean. Marcos is also set to have a discussion with Vietnam Prime Minister PhamMinh Chinh on strategic partnership cooperation on rice and food security. See “Marcos,” A2
PESO exchange rates n US 56.7020 n japan 0.3878 n UK 72.1476 n HK 7.2266 n CHINA 7.7791 n singapore 41.9984 n australia 36.7032 n EU 61.9639 n KOREA 0.0429 n SAUDI arabia 15.1157 Source: BSP (August 31, 2023)