9-month budget deficit on track, but government spending exceeds target

THE government on Wednesday said that it overshot its spending target in the first nine months of the year on account of higher interest payments, personnel services cost and advances to government-owned and -controlled corporations.

Expenditures in the first three quarters reached P658.3 billion, or P14 billion higher than the programmed P644.3 billion. Spending also grew 9.8 percent over last year’s P599.3 billion.