THE NATIONAL Government’s (NG) budget surplus greater than doubled in January to P165.4 billion amid a double-digit decline in spending, the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) said.
In an announcement, the Treasury said the NG posted a P165.4-billion budget surplus in January, 141.91% higher than the P68.4-billion surplus a yr ago as a result of “sustained revenue growth.”
Month on month, the budget balance swung to a surplus from the P313.17-billion deficit in December last yr.
This was the primary budget surplus posted because the P11.15-billion surplus in October 2025.
In January, revenues inched up by 0.36% to P468.9 billion from P467.1 billion in the identical month in 2025.
Tax collections, which make up 94.45% of total revenues, rose by 1.21% to P442.8 billion in January from P437.5 billion in January 2025.
The majority of tax revenues got here from the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR), whose collections went up by 1% to P358.7 billion in January from P355.1 billion in the identical month in 2025.
“The agency’s continued growth was supported by its digitalization initiatives and intensified tax administration efforts,” the Treasury said.
Meanwhile, the Bureau of Customs saw a 2.13% increase in collections to P80.9 billion in January, from P79.3 billion in the identical month a yr ago.
“The agency’s positive outturn was buoyed by its sustained enforcement operations, including the seizure of smuggled goods, the confiscation of illegally imported vehicles, and strengthened compliance and tax administration measures,” it added.
Collections by other offices were flat at P3.2 billion in January.
However, nontax revenues plunged by 12.08% to P26 billion, from P29.6 billion in the identical month last yr as a result of a “moderation in BTr income and NG share from Malampaya proceeds.”
The BTr saw a 13.17% decline in its revenues to P13.7 billion last yr, while collections by other offices also dropped by 10.85% to P12.4 billion.
Meanwhile, state spending dropped by 23.9% to P303.5 billion in January from 398.8 billion in the identical month last yr.
The BTr attributed the decline to the “rescheduling of the transfers to local government units, in addition to the bottom effect of enormous capital disbursements in January last yr.”
It said that the big disbursements last yr were “as a result of the settlement of accounts payables and frontloading of some expenditure ahead of the election ban.”
Primary spending—which refers to total expenditures minus interest payments—dropped by 40.32% to P175.5 billion in January from P294.4 billion a yr ago. It accounted for 57.88% of disbursements in the course of the month.
Meanwhile, interest payments surged by 22.39% to P127.8 billion in January from P104.4 billion last yr, as a result of the “additional debt incurred to finance the previous yr’s deficit and changes in coupon payment timing following refinancing.” — Justine Irish D. Tabile