Philippines' budget deficit widens to P700B

The government's COVID-19 response has led to a significant increase in public expenditures, widening the budget deficit to P700.6 billion by end-July 2020, up 494% from the same period last year.

In July alone, the deficit was P140.2 billion, an 86.2% increase from a year ago due to higher spending on pandemic response programs.

Despite this, ING Bank Manila senior economist Nicholas Mapa says the government still has fiscal leeway and can boost spending to counteract the economic impact of the pandemic.

Revenues in July dropped by 11.22%, while expenditures rose by 10.4% compared to the same period last year.