Philippines: Spending growth slows in Oct 19

• STATE SPENDING increased for the fourth straight month in Oct 19, though by the smallest increment in that period, yielding a smaller budget deficit as revenue collections grew at a faster clip, the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) reported.
• The government posted a narrower PHP49.3bn budget deficit, contracting by 17.71% y/y and reversing from the 85.52% hike in Sep 19 as revenue generation outpaced state spending.
• That brought the ytd deficit to PHP348.3bn, a fifth smaller than the PHP438.1bn gap between Jan 18 – Oct 18.
• Expenditures edged up 1.37% y/y to PHP310.8bn in Oct 19 from PHP306.6bn in Oct 18. The Treasury attributed the small increment to a high base the past year.
• Primary expenditures, which count spending on infrastructure and other capital outlays but exclude interest payments, went up by 2.65% y/y to PHP290.1bn while interest payments dropped 13.7% y/y to PHP20.7bn.
• The government’s overall revenue collections grew 5.99% y/y to PHP261.6bn in Oct 19. The 10 months to Oct 19 saw overall revenues grow 9.8% to PHP2.59tr from PHP2.358tr in the same period in 2018.

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