Budget Secretary Amenah Pangandaman has pledged to intensify efforts to uphold the government’s commendable spending performance. This commitment comes in the wake of a reported 5.7% reduction in the national budget deficit for 2024, a development that has filled Pangandaman with joy.
The announcement followed a report from the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) indicating a slight decrease in the deficit to PHP1.506 trillion, a 0.38% reduction, attributed to revenue growth surpassing expenditure.
The deficit, when measured against the gross domestic product (GDP), improved from 6.22% in 2023 to 5.7% in 2024, as detailed in the BTr’s Cash Operations Report on the national government’s fiscal performance for the entire year of 2024.
Pangandaman expressed her satisfaction with the deficit reduction, describing the outcome as ‘better than expected’ and noting it as the lowest rate since the onset of the global health crisis in 2020.
She highlighted the significant improvement over the previous year’s 6.2% deficit, crediting the better-than-anticipated revenue and spending performance. This aligns well with the fiscal projections set by the Development Budget Coordination Committee (DBCC) during their most recent meeting.
Pangandaman also acknowledged the leadership of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. and the economic team for their role in meeting the administration’s macroeconomic goals.
The economic managers, she stated, are dedicated to pursuing fiscal consolidation that promotes growth while continuing to invest in critical sectors such as infrastructure, education, and healthcare to support ongoing economic recovery.
These initiatives, according to Pangandaman, who also chairs the DBCC, are aimed at building a ‘Bagong Pilipinas’ that enhances job opportunities, boosts incomes, and alleviates poverty. She emphasized that the positive fiscal results reflect the effectiveness of the Department of Budget and Management’s strategies to enhance budget utilization by government agencies.
Government spending in 2024 increased by 11.04% from the previous year, exceeding the set target by 2.97%. This growth was driven by the accelerated rollout of health and social protection programs, salary increases for eligible government workers, and robust infrastructure and capital investments by the Department of Public Works and Highways, among other factors.
On the revenue side, the government collected PHP4.419 trillion in 2024, which accounted for 16.72% of GDP. This was a 15.56% increase over 2023 and surpassed the revenue target by 3.49%, facilitating further fiscal consolidation.
Pangandaman affirmed that the government’s current fiscal performance is in line with its ‘Agenda for Prosperity,’ reinforcing the Philippines’ status as a vibrant emerging economy in the Asia-Pacific region.
The DBCC convened on December 2, 2024, to reassess the government’s medium-term macroeconomic assumptions and fiscal targets, including the deficit forecast for 2024, which is projected to be 5.7% of GDP.
The committee’s goal is to progressively reduce the budget deficit to 3.7% by 2028.