THE government has continued to post a budget surplus with revenues having outpaced spending, Finance Secretary Ralph Recto said on Tuesday.

"As of today, for the last two months and a half, our revenues are 20 percent up year on year while spending is 10 percent up year on year, so we do have a surplus," Recto told reporters in a briefing.

"So far, we're hitting the numbers, surpassing the targets, and we hope that continues," he added.

The government recorded a budget surplus of P88 billion in January as revenue growth of 21.15 percent outpaced the 10.39-percent expansion in spending.

Revenues totaled P421.8 billion in the first month of 2024, up from P348.2 billion 12 months before. The P333.9 billion in spending was also higher than the year-earlier P302.4 billion.

Tax collections accounted for the bulk, or 91.31 percent, of year-to-date revenue, with the remaining 8.69 percent generated from nontax collections.

Recto said the Department of Finance had assisted both the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) and the Bureau of Customs (BoC) to analyze data to efficiently collect taxes.

"[We] provide them with that data as well, where to concentrate to collect the taxes and to whom they should be collecting the taxes from," he said.

The BIR posted a 31.35-percent increase in collections to P308.4 billion in January. The BoC also saw revenues rise, by 3.98 percent to P73.4 billion.

Recto, however, said he does not expect the government to end the year in the black.

"I'm just stating a fact," Recto said.

"There is a surplus in January, there is a surplus in February. So far, the revenue seems to be good. I hope that holds all the way up to the end of the year."

The interagency Development Budget Coordination Committee (DBCC) expects the government to end 2024 with a budget deficit of P1.39 trillion.

The revenue and spending assumptions for this year are P4.2 trillion and P5.6 trillion, respectively.

These, along with other macroeconomic targets, could be revised by the DBCC this Friday.