Philippines' Q1-Q3 budget deficit hits P1.14T

The Philippines' budget deficit reached P1.14 trillion in the first nine months of 2021, a 29.6% increase from the same period in 2020.

Despite underspending compared to the programmed record deficit of P1.86 trillion for 2021, expenditures rose by 11.7% to P3.38 trillion while revenue generation increased by 4.4% to P2.24 trillion.

In September alone, the budget gap widened to P180.9 billion from P138.5 billion in the previous year.