Budget gap shrinks on strong tax take

The national government narrowed its budget deficit in July to P18.9 billion, a 34.42 percent decline from the same period a year earlier, due to sustained strong tax performance from its main revenue-generating agencies.

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The Bureau of the Treasury announced on Thursday, Aug. 28, that the July 2025 budget gap has contributed to a total fiscal deficit of P784.4 billion for the first seven months of the year, remaining well within the revised full-year target of P1.56 trillion.

According to the Treasury, the reduced budget gap was a result of revenues growing faster than expenditures. Total revenues for July reached P472.3 billion, an increase of 3.26 percent year-over-year.

The Treasury stated that this was driven by higher tax collections from the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) and the Bureau of Customs (BOC), which grew by 4.83 percent and six percent year-over-year, respectively.