February’s P37.6-billion shortfall was a turnaround of the P23.04-billion surplus the previous month and is smaller than P76.4-billion deficit a year earlier. February’s budget gap pulled down the year-to-date deficit to P14.6 billion, 54.30-percent narrower than the P31.8 billion posted in the first two months of 2019. “The slow growth for the month was mainly due to the slowdown of importation from China amid the coronavirus outbreak,” the Treasury bureau said. Non-tax earnings totalled P17 billion, with the Treasury contributing P5.9 billion — down 36.25 percent — “due to lower dividend remittance for the period compared to 2019,” the Treasury bureau explained. As a result, “the budget deficit could breach the 2020 program of 3.2 percent of GDP to around 3.6 percent,” he added.

Source: Manila Times April 06, 2020 16:30 UTC