The government’s budget deficit declined slightly in February as a surge in tax collections and early dividend remittances offset a double-digit climb in state spending, the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) said.
The fiscal gap for February reached P171.2 billion, down from P171.4 billion a year ago. The outturn pulled the year-to-date deficit down to P5.8 billion, representing a 94.3-percent plunge from the P103.1 billion recorded in the first two months of 2025.
Government revenues for February jumped 43.52 percent to P361.3 billion. For the January-February period, total revenue grew 15.48 percent to P830.2 billion, bolstered by a surge in non-tax income which reached P137.6 billion from P47 billion previously.
The Treasury attributed the non-tax spike to the “earlier-than-usual remittance of 2025-earned dividends in February.
Tax collections remained the primary driver, with the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) increasing its two-month haul to P531.9 billion from P514.7 billion, a rise the BTr said was “driven by improved taxpayer compliance.”
The Bureau of Customs (BOC) collected P154.6 billion, up 2.39 percent, supported by “stronger enforcement, compliance measures, and the peso’s year-on-year depreciation.”
Expenditures in February climbed 25.83 percent to P532.5 billion. The BTr traced the increase to the “spillover of January National Tax Allotment (NTA) and the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao block grant releases,” alongside tobacco excise tax shares for local government units.
Finance Secretary Frederick Go said the fiscal performance provides a necessary cushion amid global economic volatility.
“This fiscal buffer allows us space to provide timely, targeted, and managed subsidies to help those most affected in our country by the Middle East event,” Go said in a statement. “This performance by the Department of Finance (DOF) and its attached agencies allows the government to maintain fiscal discipline and ensure a sustainable path in managing the current crisis,” he added.
