Budget shortfall, BSP operations widen public sector deficit
Reuters | 10/20/2008 11:53 AM
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The Philippine public sector, an indicator of the government's financial health, has recorded a deficit of P18.079 billion ($377 million) in the first quarter, mainly due to the national government budget shortfall and central bank operations, the government said.
The deficit amounts to 1.1 percent of GDP in the period, according to finance ministry documents.
The national government had a deficit of P51.56 billion in the period, while the central bank ran up a deficit of P24.68 billion.
The central bank has reported losses last year and early this year mainly because of higher interest payments after it widened the availability of special deposit accounts to mop up liquidity.
Government corporations had a surplus of 12.77 billion pesos in the first quarter, while government health and pension funds posted a surfeit of 14.41 billion pesos, the documents showed.
In 2007, the public sector recorded a surplus of P36.4 billion, about 0.5 percent of GDP.
