The government’s fiscal position last month remained in shortfall as state spending surged and revenues declined, the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) reported on Wednesday. April’s budget deficit of P273.9 billion was wider than the P59.5-billion gap in March, but a reversal of the P86.9-billion surplus a year ago. A month earlier, revenues and expenditures jumped by 19.58 percent and 15.97 percent, respectively. April’s shortfall boosted the year-to-date deficit to P347.9 billion, more than a hundred times bigger than the P3.4 billion incurred in the first four months of 2019. As a result, total tax revenues decreased by 56.74 percent to P124.9 billion, wider than the 10.67-percent drop in March.

Source: Manila Times May 27, 2020 17:15 UTC