National Government posts PHP 165.4B budget surplus in January

The National Government’s (NG) budget surplus more than doubled in January to PHP 165.4 billion amid a double-digit decline in spending, the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) said.

In a statement, the Treasury said the NG posted a PHP 165.4-billion budget surplus in January, 141.91% higher than the PHP 68.4-billion surplus a year ago due to “sustained revenue growth.”

Month on month, the budget balance swung to a surplus from the PHP 313.17-billion deficit in December last year.

This was the first budget surplus posted since the PHP 11.15-billion surplus in October 2025.

In January, revenues inched up by 0.36% to PHP 468.9 billion from PHP 467.1 billion in the same month in 2025.

Tax collections, which make up 94.45% of total revenues, rose by 1.21% to PHP 442.8 billion in January from PHP 437.5 billion in January 2025.

The bulk of tax revenues came from the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR), whose collections went up by 1% to PHP 358.7 billion in January from PHP 355.1 billion in the same month in 2025.

“The agency’s continued growth was supported by its digitalization initiatives and intensified tax administration efforts,” the Treasury said.

Meanwhile, the Bureau of Customs saw a 2.13% increase in collections to PHP 80.9 billion in January, from PHP 79.3 billion in the same month a year ago.

“The agency’s positive outturn was buoyed by its sustained enforcement operations, including the seizure of smuggled goods, the confiscation of illegally imported vehicles, and strengthened compliance and tax administration measures,” it added.

Collections by other offices were flat at PHP 3.2 billion in January.

On the other hand, nontax revenues plunged by 12.08% to PHP 26 billion, from PHP 29.6 billion in the same month last year due to a “moderation in BTr income and NG share from Malampaya proceeds.”

The BTr saw a 13.17% decline in its revenues to PHP 13.7 billion last year, while collections by other offices also dropped by 10.85% to PHP 12.4 billion.

Meanwhile, state spending dropped by 23.9% to PHP 303.5 billion in January from PHP 398.8 billion in the same month last year.

The BTr attributed the decline to the “rescheduling of the transfers to local government units, as well as the base effect of large capital disbursements in January last year.”

It said that the large disbursements last year were “due to the settlement of accounts payables and frontloading of some expenditure ahead of the election ban.”

Primary spending—which refers to total expenditures minus interest payments—dropped by 40.32% to PHP 175.5 billion in January from PHP 294.4 billion a year ago. It accounted for 57.88% of disbursements during the month.

Meanwhile, interest payments surged by 22.39% to PHP 127.8 billion in January from PHP 104.4 billion last year, due to the “additional debt incurred to finance the previous year’s deficit and changes in coupon payment timing following refinancing.” — Justine Irish D. Tabile