Malacañang on Monday welcomed the drop in the country’s budget deficit last year and attributed the reduction to the effective stewardship of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. and the efforts of the administration’s economic team.

“Magandang balita ang ibinahagi ng Department of Budget and Management. Dahil sa epektibong pamumuno ni Pangulong Marcos Jr., bumaba sa 5.7 percent o 1.5 trillion pesos ang budget deficit ng bansa nitong 2024,” PCO Undersecretary and Palace Press Officer Atty. Claire Castro said in a press briefing.

“Pinakamababa ito mula noong taong 2020. Nagpakita ng mabuting pagtatrabaho ang economic team ng administrasyon. Umabot naman sa 16.72 percent ng GDP (gross domestic product) or 4.4 trillion pesos ang government revenues sa nakaraang taon,” she added.

A budget deficit occurs when government expenditures surpass its revenue. It is a key indicator of a country’s financial health, mainly concerning government spending and income.

On February 28, Budget Secretary Amenah Pangandaman reported a decrease in the country’s budget deficit for 2024, noting that it is better than the government’s expectations.

Pangandaman made the report following the recent release of the Cash Operations Report of the Bureau of the Treasury, detailing the national government’s full-year fiscal performance for 2024.

Pangandaman noted that it was the lowest rate recorded since the pandemic began in 2020, representing a significant improvement from the 6.2 percent deficit in 2023. | PND