|
Tuesday, September 19, 2006
High revenues help RP post budget surplus
MANILA - Higher-than-expected revenues helped the Philippines post a budget surplus in August, the fourth in the past eight months, Finance Secretary Margarito Teves said yesterday.
The P14.3 billion-surplus reduced the accumulated January-August budget deficit to P34.2 billion or 27 percent of the 2006 full-year deficit target of P125 billion, Teves said in a statement.
Better
“Our fiscal performance for the month was better than programmed,” he said.
Revenues for the month reached P97.5 billion, or P3.8 billion higher than the government target.
Budget
Manila spent P83.2 billion for the month, or P10.7 billion lower than programmed “due largely to the non-passage of the 2006 budget,” Teves said.
The Arroyo government has earned international praise for shoring up its narrow revenue base with the passage of a batch of tax reform measures last year that are designed to raise collections by up to P100 billion a year.
Spending
This inspired the government to raise proposed infrastructure spending for the 2006 budget but the plan ran into opposition in the Senate, some of whose members accused Arroyo of electioneering ahead of the May 2007 mid-term elections.
As a result, the Philippine government is operating on the 2005 budget appropriation levels pending resolution of the impasse. (AFP)
For Bisaya stories from Cebu. Click here. (September 19, 2006 issue)
Write letter to the editor.Click here.
Join the Sun.Star message board.Click here. |
|
[return to top]
[home]
[network page]
|
LOCAL NEWS
BUSINESS
OPINION
SPORTS
LIFESTYLE
FEATURE
SUPERBALITA
WEEKEND
|
