Government hikes revenue target this year

MANILA, Philippines — The government is targeting higher revenues for 2024 while keeping its medium-term fiscal goals for 2025 to 2028 largely unchanged, according to the Development Budget Coordination Committee (DBCC).

During the 189th Cabinet-level DBCC meeting on Monday, the government maintained most of its medium-term fiscal targets for the next four years, with growth-enhancing fiscal consolidation at the forefront of its agenda.

“This means that we remain determined to reduce the country’s deficit in a more gradual and realistic manner while also bolstering long-term investments that create more jobs, increase incomes and decrease poverty incidence,” Budget Secretary and DBCC chair Amenah Pangandaman said.

In particular, the DBCC hiked the revenue goal for 2024 to P4.38 trillion from the P4.27-trillion forecast in July. But revenue targets were kept at P4.64 trillion in 2025, P5.06 trillion in 2026 and P5.63 trillion in 2027.

By the end of the Marcos administration in 2028, revenues are expected to have grown to P6.25 trillion, equivalent to 17 percent of gross domestic product (GDP).

Finance Secretary Ralph Recto said growth would be driven by both tax and non-tax revenues next year.

“The BIR (Bureau of Internal Revenue) and BOC (Bureau of Customs) are expected to grow by double digits,” he said.

Pangandaman said revenue collections are expected to remain at 16.5 percent of GDP from 2025 to 2028. “This means that over the medium term, the government will be collecting a billion more in revenues a day annually.”

She said collections would be supported by new measures such as the recently enacted value-added tax on digital services act and tax administration reforms on digitalization.

Government spending will also remain one of the major contributors to economic growth.

The government raised its expenditure program to P5.91 trillion from P5.75 trillion previously. DBCC expects spending to remain at an average of about 21 percent of GDP from 2024 until 2028.

Meanwhile, the spending target was maintained at P6.182 trillion in 2025, P6.54 trillion in 2026, P7.027 trillion in 2027 and P7.621 trillion in 2028.

“Our fiscal discipline and fluid debt management have recently earned our country a regional credit rating outlook, found stable to positive from the S&P Global and a series of high rating affirmations from different global credit rating agencies,” Pangandaman said.