Philippines' budget balance swings back to deficit in Sept

[MANILA] The Philippine government posted a budget deficit of 75.3 billion pesos (S$2.16 billion) in September, the Department of Finance said on Tuesday, the biggest monthly gap recorded so far this year.

Expenditures grew 30 per cent in September from a year earlier, while revenue rose just 1 per cent.

That brought the budget gap in the nine months to September to 213.7 billion pesos. The government has a budget deficit ceiling of 388.9 billion pesos in 2016.

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has pledged to accelerate infrastructure spending during his six-year term, which began on June 30, to lift economic growth.

AFP