23.04.202608:57:51UTC+00Philippines Budget Deficit Widens in March

The Philippines’ budget deficit widened to PHP 349.7 billion in March 2026 from PHP 342.9 billion in the same month a year earlier, marking the largest monthly shortfall since December 2023. Total revenues increased by 9.25% year-on-year to PHP 305.1 billion, with 85.37% coming from tax collections and 14.63% from non-tax sources. Total expenditures grew 5.23% to PHP 654.8 billion, driven mainly by higher National Tax Allotment shares for local government units (LGUs) and releases for their Special Shares in the Proceeds of National Taxes, including the tobacco excise tax and the Local Government Support Fund. Spending was further supported by increased budgetary assistance to government-owned and -controlled corporations (GOCCs) and PHP 20.0 billion in releases to the Department of Energy (DOE) for the government’s Emergency Energy Program, designed to bolster fuel supply amid tensions in the Middle East. For the first quarter of the year, the budget deficit narrowed to PHP 355.5 billion from PHP 446.0 billion in the same period a year earlier.