RECTO: PH ‘ON TRACK’ SA PAGTUGON SA FISCAL PROGRAM NGAYONG 2024

BINIGYANG-DIIN ni Finance Secretary Ralph Recto na nananatiling “on track” ang Pilipinas upang mapagtagumpayan ang fiscal program nito para sa 2024 dahil sa matatag na revenue effort at manageable deficit level sa unang kalahati ng taon.

“So far, we are on track to meet our fiscal program for the year, having already achieved half of our targets,” aniya sa ginanap na 2025 National Budget Deliberations sa Senado.

Iniulat din nito ang paglago ng expenditures ng 14.6%, nagresulta ng fiscal deficit na P 613.9 billion.

Inaasahan na ng gobyerno ayon kay Recto na lalago ang revenues ng average na 10.3% taon-taon habang ang disbursements ay tinatayang tataas ng 7.4%.

“This robust revenue performance placed us among Asia’s top revenue-to-GDP (gross domestic product) ratios at 17.1 percent for the first half of the year. And this is above our full-year target of 16.1 percent,” ayon sa Kalihim.

Winika ni Recto na ang fiscal deficit ay inaasahan na bababa mula 5.6% ngayong 2024 sa 3.7% sa 2028.

“The fiscal deficit has remained very manageable at PHP613.9 billion as of end-June 2024. As a percentage of GDP, the deficit stood at 4.9 percent in the first semester, below the full-year target of 5.6 percent,” aniya pa rin.

Sa medium term, inaasahan ng gobyerno na ang revenues ay lalago ng average na 10.3% taon-taon.

“Revenues as a percentage of GDP are also expected to increase from 16.1 percent in 2024 to 17.0 percent in 2028 with the help of the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) and the Bureau of Customs (BOC) by working hard to boost efficiency as tax collections,” ayon sa ulat.

“These projections took into account the additional revenues from the refined revenue reforms of the DOF, which we recalibrated to ensure that they do not place undue burdens on the taxpayers,” ang sinabi ng Kalihim.

“With higher government revenue collections and improved expenditure management, our fiscal deficit is projected to drop from 5.6 percent in 2024 to 3.7 percent by 2028,” dagdag na pahayag nito.

Ang tax collections mula sa BIR at BOC ay may kabuuang P1.84 trillion, kung saan 10% na mas mataas noong 2023.

Samantala, tiniyak naman ni Recto sa mga miyembro ng Senado na patuloy na pangangasiwaan ng gobyerno ang utang ng bansa “according to the highest standards of fiscal discipline.”

Hanggang noong Hunyo, sinabi ni Recto na nakapagtala ang gross financing ng 61 % ng full-year goal na P 2.57 trillion kung saan kabilang ang landmark na USD2 billion global bond na ipinalabas noong nakaraang Mayo, dahilan para maging isa itong “most affordable and cost-effective borrowing costs” ng gobyerno.

Iniulat nito na ang bansa ay mayroong ‘high reliance’ sa domestic financing, na may 68.3% ng national debt na denominated sa local currency.

Nilinaw naman ni Recto na sa kabila ng mataas na utang, malaki pa rin ang ekonomiya ng bansa para matugunan ang debt obligations nito.

Sa ilalim ng Medium-Term Fiscal Program, tiniyak nito na ang ‘deficit at debt’ ay naglalayon na unti-unting bawasan habang lumilikha ng hanapbuhay, itaas ang kita at bawasan ang kahirapan.

“Under this, we have ensured that every peso to be collected or borrowed will be stretched to deliver the biggest bang per buck for the Filipino people,” ayon kay Recto.

Sinabi ni Recto sa mga senador na ang spending priorities ng pamahalaan ay kinabibliangan ng edukasyon, imprastraktura, food security, social protection, at national security.