MANILA — The national government posted a PHP31.4 billion budget surplus in April, helping narrow the fiscal deficit for the first four months of 2026, according to the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr).

In its latest cash operations report released Tuesday, the BTr said the April surplus was lower than the PHP67.3 billion surplus recorded in the same month last year.

Government revenues grew by 2.83 percent to PHP536.8 billion from PHP522.1 billion in April 2025, while expenditures climbed at a faster pace of 11.14 percent.

Collections by the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) slightly increased to PHP422.2 billion from PHP420.5 billion in the same month last year.

The BTr said the slower growth in BIR collections was partly due to the extension of the filing and payment deadline for annual income tax returns (AITR) following the declaration of a State of National Energy Emergency.

Meanwhile, collections by the Bureau of Customs (BOC) rose by 15.52 percent to PHP86.3 billion from PHP74.7 billion in April 2025.

The Treasury attributed the increase to improved valuation and monitoring systems, along with the continued digitalization of customs processes under the agency’s Integrity, Accountability, and Modernization (IAM) Program.

Non-tax revenues also went up by 7.32 percent to PHP25.8 billion from PHP24.1 billion recorded in April last year.

The increase was supported by PHP160 million in recovered restitution funds linked to flood control projects and PHP623.9 million in privatization proceeds during April 2026.

Government spending, meanwhile, rose to PHP505.4 billion from PHP454.8 billion in the same month last year.

According to the BTr, the increase in expenditures was driven by higher National Tax Allotment (NTA) shares for local government units, the Annual Block Grant for the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM), releases from the Local Government Support Fund, and additional budgetary support for government-owned and -controlled corporations (GOCCs), including the return of PHP60 billion in excess funds to PhilHealth.

The Treasury also cited direct payments made by development partners to contractors and suppliers involved in foreign-assisted railway projects of the Department of Transportation as among the factors contributing to higher disbursements in April.

For the January-to-April period, the national government’s budget deficit declined by 14.44 percent to PHP324.1 billion from PHP378.7 billion recorded in the same period in 2025.

Total collections for the first four months of the year rose by 9.99 percent to PHP1.67 trillion, compared to PHP1.52 trillion in the comparable period last year.

BIR collections reached PHP1.14 trillion, higher than the PHP1.11 trillion recorded a year earlier.

BOC collections also increased by 6.41 percent to PHP325.7 billion from PHP306.1 billion in the same period in 2025.

Non-tax revenues more than doubled to PHP192 billion from PHP90.7 billion, aided by early dividend remittances from several GOCCs.

Meanwhile, government spending from January to April climbed by 5.12 percent to PHP2 trillion from PHP1.9 trillion last year.