Gov’t surpasses revenue target in 2024

The national government’s total revenue collection reached P4.419 trillion in 2024, surpassing the P4.27 trillion target, according to the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr).

In a report released Thursday, the BTr noted that revenue collection last year amounted to 16.72 percent of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP), marking the highest revenue effort since 1997. The increase was largely attributed to stronger-than-expected non-tax revenues.

Non-tax revenues posted a 56.61 percent surge, reaching P618.3 billion and exceeding the revised full-year target of P449.6 billion.

“The better-than-expected outturn was primarily due to strengthened efforts to generate windfall collections such as that from the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) concession fee (P30 billion) and the P167.2 billion fund balance transfers from the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PHIC) and Philippine Deposit Insurance Corporation (PDIC),” the BTr stated.

In addition to non-tax revenues, the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) and the Bureau of Customs (BOC) continued to register higher tax collections.

The BIR’s total collections grew by 13.29 percent to P2.85 trillion from P2.51 trillion in 2023, exceeding its adjusted full-year program by 0.09 percent.

“The agency’s total uptake also exceeded the P2.849 trillion adjusted full-year program by 0.09 percent (P2.7 billion), driven by increased Value-Added Tax (VAT) collections,” the BTr said.

Meanwhile, BOC collections rose by 3.79 percent to PP916.7 billion. However, this figure fell short of the revised full-year program of P939.7 billion due to reduced tariffs on rice and certain electric vehicles, as well as the extended lower tariff on meat products under Executive Order 50.

Government disbursements in 2024 reached P5.925 trillion, reflecting an 11.04 percent increase from 2023 and surpassing the revised P5.75 trillion target.

“The strong disbursement performance was largely driven by infrastructure and other capital outlays of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), maintenance and other operating expenses for various health and social protection programs, and personnel services expenditures due to the implementation of the 1st tranche of salary adjustments of qualified civilian government employees pursuant to Executive Order No. 64 dated August 2, 2024,” the BTr reported.

Additional spending under the Unprogrammed Appropriations also contributed to the increase. These included funds for the Public Health Emergency Benefits and Allowances for health workers, Medical Assistance for Indigent and Financially Incapacitated Patients under the Department of Health, the Department of Social Welfare and Development’s Assistance to Individuals in Crisis Situations program, and the Rice Farmers Financial Assistance program of the Department of Agriculture.

Despite higher spending, the BTr reported that the budget deficit narrowed by 0.38 percent to P1.506 trillion as revenue growth outpaced expenditures.

As a percentage of GDP, the deficit improved to 5.70 percent in 2024 from 6.22 percent in 2023.