Attaining a balanced budget and cutting hard the deficit

The United Arab Emirates suffered a five percent GDP contraction in 2020 during the global lockdowns, their public debt rose from 26.8 percent of GDP in 2019 to 41.3 percent in 2020, then slowly reduced it to 32.1 percent in 2024. That is a good achievement.

- BIENVENIDO S. OPLAS JR.

I am here waiting for my connecting flight to Madrid, Spain, then train to Valencia, the venue of my conference. Spain suffered a double-digit 10.9 percent GDP contraction in 2020. Their public debt rose from 97.6 percent of GDP in 2019 to 119.2 percent in 2020, then slowly reduced it to 101.8 percent in 2024.

Philippine public debt rose from 37 percent of GDP in 2019 to 51.6 percent in 2020, rose to 57 percent in 2021 and remained at that level in 2024 (Data from IMF World Economic Outlook 2025).

Reducing our public debt seems to have become a slippery goal. So fiscal and monetary economics stories like these in The Philippine STAR yesterday, Sept.17, are good news to me: “GOCC dividends hit P117 billion in September”, ‘One more rate cut possible this year’, and “Government expects P100 billion boost from bond market inclusion.”

Government derives revenues not only from taxes, regulatory fees and fines, and asset privatization, also from dividends of government-owned and controlled corporations (GOCCs) and finance institutions. Data from the Bureau of the Treasury show that GOCC dividends remitted were P69.1 billion in 2022, P102.2 billion in 2023, P138.5 billion in 2024 and P106.3 billion as of July 2025.

In a press statement by the Department of Finance (DOF) last Sept. 16, “Recto to GOCCs: You are people-owned, Filipinos must be at the heart of services anchored on good governance,” Secretary Ralph Recto recognized the 53 GOCCs for their dividend contributions of P109 billion as of Sept. 12. The DOF also expects the year-end dividend remittances to reach at least P117 billion, even up to P157 billion.