The Department of Finance (DOF) vowed to push for a a more robust revenue collection this year following President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.’s signing of the 2025 General Appropriations Act (GAA).

Finance Secretary Ralph Recto Recto said P4.62 trillion or 73 percent of the P6.326 trillion 2025 budget will be funded through national government revenues.

This means the government will be spending an average of P17.33 billion a day, and P12.72 billion of which will be financed by tax collection and non-tax revenues, such as income collected by the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) and remittances from government-owned and controlled corporations (GOCCs).

"Given the magnitude of our responsibility, the DOF will work 24 hours a day to meet our needs. We will ensure that every centavo will go to the right projects and programs for the country,” Recto said in Filipino.

The finance chief added that his agency will strive to surpass revenue targets to generate more resources.

This year, the national government’s revenue is expected to reach P4.42 trillion, exceeding its P4.27-trillion target.

“As a percentage of GDP [gross domestic product], the emerging revenues will climb to 16.7 percent, the highest in the last 27 years,” Recto said.

Last week, the BTr reported that the national government collected a total of P4.1 trillion in revenues from January to November 2024.

Likewise, the DOF noted that non-tax revenues as of end-November 2024 hit a record-high P606.6 billion.

“So rest assured, we will work doubly hard to sustain this momentum and adhere to our Medium-Term Fiscal Program that reduces our deficit and debt gradually in a realistic manner; while creating more jobs, increasing our people’s incomes, and decreasing poverty in the process,” Recto said. 

PNA PHOTO