PH gov't posts budget surplus in January

Manila, March 18 -- National Treasurer Rosalia De Leon attributed the government's budget surplus in January 2019 to a slowdown in spending due to the fact that it is operating on a reenacted budget.

Data released by the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) Monday showed a budget surplus of PHP44.5 billion, 337 percent higher than the PHP10.2 billion during the same period last year.

This transpired after revenues reached PHP256.7 billion, higher than the PHP212.2 billion spending for the month.

Total revenues in the first month this year is up by seven percent compared to the PHP238.9 billion in January 2018 while expenditures declined by seven percent against year-ago's PHP228.7 billion.

The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) collected PHP185.1...