Department of Budget and Management (DBM) Secretary Amenah F. Pangandaman welcomed the latest development on the national government's (NG) budget deficit data, as this bodes well with the Marcos Jr. administration's fiscal performance targets.

The country's budget deficit declined in 2022 to P1.6 trillion, down by 3.35% or P56.0 billion from the P1.7 trillion shortfall recorded in 2021.

This meant the national government's budget deficit in 2022 narrowed to 7.33% of the country's gross domestic product (GDP) from 8.60% in 2021 and below the 7.58% full-year program.

"The decline in our budget deficit augurs well with our fiscal performance targets. We laud our revenue agencies for this notable improvement as this is a better outturn compared to the year prior, considering the past two years of pandemic spending," Secretary Pangandaman said.

“Under our Medium-Term Fiscal Framework or the MTFF, we are targeting to further narrow the government's budget deficit to GDP ratio at 3% by the end of President Marcos' [Jr.] term in 2028."

The Bureau of Treasury (BTr) attributed the fiscal outturn to revenue growth of 17.97% which outpaced the 10.35% expansion in government spending.

Data from the BTr showed the full-year revenue collection amounted to P3.5 trillion. This translated to a 17.97% or P540.0 billion improvement from the 2021 outcome.

Meanwhile, government spending for 2022 has reached P5.2 trillion, up by 10.35% from P4.7 trillion a year ago.

###