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By Darwin G. Amojelar, Reporter
PHILIPPINE economic managers plan a minimal deficit in 2010 to
sustain the growth of the economy amid the global financial crisis.
Ralph Recto, chief of the National Economic and
Development Authority (NEDA), said the Development Budget and
Coordinating Committee (DBCC) is looking at a deficit of between 0.5
percent and 1 percent by 2010.
“It’s hard to have a balanced budget by
2010. There might be a need to have a deficit [to sustain
growth],” Recto told reporters.
The government has put off its original plan to
balance the budget this year to address the economic slowdown and
skyrocketing commodity prices.
In 2009, the government has programmed a
P40-billion budget deficit, but a high-ranking Finance official said
this is unlikely to be met as the government plans to pump prime the
economy through a P102-billion deficit spending.
In the first 10 months, the country posted a
funding shortfall of P62.3 billion, more than 50- percent higher
than the programmed P41.5 billion due to below-target collections of
the country’s main tax agency.
The government had collected total revenues of
P972.6 billion from the P896 billion a year ago, while expenditures
grew 10 percent to P1.035 billion year-on-year.
Of the total revenues, the Bureau of Internal
Revenue contributed P644.8 billion, a 12-percent growth from P574.4
billion last year, but still P20-billion short of the end-October
target. The Bureau of Customs, meanwhile, collected P218.2 billion,
a 27-percent increase from last year.
Revenues from the Bureau of Treasury and other
offices amounted to P53.1 billion and P56.4 billion, respectively.
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