THE Philippine government posted a narrower fiscal shortfall in July as state revenue grew larger than expenditures last month, the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) reported.The national government’s fiscal performance recorded a deficit of P86.6 billion, down 28.41 percent from P121.2 billion in the same period last year.July’s budget shortfall is also narrower than the P215.5 billion fiscal gap posted in June.The BTr said the lower budget deficit came “as government receipts grew faster than expenditures for the period.”Year-to-date (YTD) budget deficit also narrowed to P761 billion, down by 9.11 percent from P837.3 billion recorded in the firstseven months of 2021.RevenuesGovernment collections during the period amounted to P308.6 billion, up 20.53 percent from P256.1 billion year-on-year.Of the total amount, 90 percent or P1.8 trillion was raised through tax collections which recorded 15.82 percent growth year-over-year.Non-tax revenues, which comprised 10 percent, also rose by 23.61 percent or P40.7 billion, largely driven by higher Treasury income.The Bureau of Internal Revenue’s net collection for July reached P197.4 billion, up 15.55 percent or P26.6 billion from a year earlier.Tax collections by the Bureau of Customs, meanwhile, reached an all-time high of P83.6 billion.ExpendituresIn July, the national government disbursed P395.4 billion in July, up 4.81 percent “partly due to the release of PhilHealth subsidy and higher National Tax Allocation transfers.”To date, total expenditures amounting to P2.8 trillion accelerated by 8.26 percent, or P213.4 billion more than the P2.6 trillion spent in the same period in 2021. / CSL