Philippines swings to budget surplus in August

MANILA: The Philippines' Department of Finance released fiscal data for August on Wednesday.

KEY POINTS

- August budget surplus 2.523bn pesos vs July deficit 39.249bn pesos.

- Jan-Aug budget deficit at 71.208bn pesos vs yr-ago gap 34.493bn pesos.

- Total government revenues reached 129.408 billion pesos in August, up 4.2 percent over last year, while spending totalled 126.885 billion pesos, 10.4 percent higher than a year ago.

- The country's main tax agency, Bureau of Internal Revenue, collected 96.756 billion pesos in August, up 10 percent from a year earlier but 7 percent lower than its goal for the month.

- The country's economic managers remain optimistic growth this year will be within the target of 5 to 6 percent, accelerating from last year's 3.7-percent expansion, despite the slowdown in the second quarter.

- The government has vowed to step up its spending in the second half to cushion the economy from the global downturn.

- A deficit ceiling of 2.6 percent of gross domestic product has been set for 2012, and 2.0 percent for 2013 until 2016 when President Benigno Aquino's term ends.

- The Philippines hopes to win its first investment grade rating and bring down the cost of borrowing before Aquino steps down from office in 2016.

- In July, Standard & Poor's Ratings Services raised its credit rating on the Philippines to one notch below investment grade, citing improved fiscal flexibility and strong external position.

- Fitch Ratings affirmed in June its stable outlook as it kept the country's credit rating at a notch below investment grade.

- Moody's revised in May its outlook to positive, but kept its ratings at two rungs below investment grade.