MANILA, June 27 (Xinhua) -- The Philippines' Bureau of the Treasury said on Thursday that the government's budget deficit reached 174.9 billion pesos (roughly 2.98 billion U.S. dollars) in May 2024, increasing by 43.1 percent from the May 2023 level.
The bureau attributed the higher deficit to a notable surge in government spending. "The higher deficit resulted from an acceleration in government spending, pushing disbursement growth for the month to 22.24 percent, as against revenue expansion of 14.59 percent," it said.
Consequently, the bureau said the cumulative budget deficit for the five months widened to 404.8 billion pesos (6.89 billion dollars), 24.06 percent more than the cumulative deficit recorded during the same period last year. ■
