MANILA, Philippines (1st UPDATE) - Taking back his initial P320-billion full-year budget gap projection, a senior finance official said Monday that the country's budget deficit may reach only P300 billion this year.

"The deficit will be in the neighborhood of P300 billion, it will not reach P320 billion," Finance Undersecretary Gil Beltran told reporters.

Just last week, Beltran said the country's fiscal shortfall may reach up to P320 billion or about 4% of gross domestic product (GDP) in 2009 if the government fails to sell state assets before the year ends.

"My scenario is that without privatizations, it would reach P280 billion to P320 billion," he was earlier quoted as saying.

The Philippines exceeded its 2009 budget deficit target in just 10 months, with weak revenues and higher spending on reconstruction following strong typhoons that damaged crops and infrastructure on the main Luzon island.

From January to October, the country's budget deficit stood at P266.1 billion, higher than the government's 2009 ceiling of P250 billion or 3.2% of GDP. The amount is also more than 4 times the P62.3-billion deficit recorded in the same period last year. With a report from Reuters