The National Government (NG) ran a P1,371.4 billion budget deficit for 2020, 24.45% lower than the revised full-year program of P1,815.4 billion[1], but was more than double the previous year’s P660.2 billion shortfall.
The wider fiscal gap for the year reflects the 11.31% year-over-year (YoY) growth in public spending combined with the 8.97% reduction in government receipts resulting from the economic impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. The FY 2020 deficit was equivalent to 7.63% of GDP, lower than the 9.63% revised program, but much higher compared to the 3.38% registered in 2019.
Nonetheless, this is broadly in line with the 7.6% of GDP deficit outlook reported during the 178th Development Budget Coordination Committee (DBCC) Meeting in December 2020. Meanwhile, the budget gap for the month of December reached P302.6 billion, up by 20.50% from the P251.1 billion incurred in the same month in 2019. (Press Release)
