WEDNESDAY · JULY 25, 2007 · 04:23 PM
The Philippine government is confident that it will be able to balance its budget by next year, and raise enough revenues to fund the entire P1.227 trillion budget proposed for 2008.
In a statement released jointly with Budget Secretary Rolando Andaya, Finance Secretary Margarito Teves said the government will raise a total of P1.236 trillion revenues next year, more than enough to fund the proposed 2008 budget.
“This means that we will have a zero budget deficit or a balanced budget by the end of next year," Teves said.
“The combined revenues from both tax and non-tax sources will allow us to be on track with our fiscal consolidation program without sacrificing on spending particularly for infrastructure development to enhance competitiveness and provide better social services for our people," he added.
The statement comes a day after international ratings agency Fitch Ratings said the country's fiscal performance for the first half of 2007 was "disappointing." Fitch also said the government is bound to overshoot its P63-billion budget deficit target for the year, in turn endangering the completion of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo's ambitious infrastructure projects.
Fitch said the country will likely end 2007 with a deficit of P125 billion. The projection does not count proceeds from privatization, which the government expects to come in at P100 billion.
In the latest statement, Teve said the Bureau of Internal Revenue will raise P844.95 billion the Bureau of Customs will collect P254.5 billion next year. This then, will be complemented by non-tax revenues from government owned and controlled corporations, government financial institutions and social security institutions.
“With these revenues, we will be able to fully fund the P1.227 trillion budget for next year, including the infrastructure projects mentioned by the President in her SONA," Sec. Rolando Andaya said in the statement.
Secretary Teves said that the government remains on track with its goal of balancing the budget, despite recent slippages in tax collection.
The budget deficit ballooned to P41.9 billion in the first half, P9.7 billion above target and already 65 percent of the full-year goal. This was because revenues fell short of target by P47.7 billion.
