Government’s mid-year belt-tightening is starting to pay off, with new cash-flow controls and a freeze on most Government Purchase Orders (GPOs) narrowing the deficit and forcing tougher scrutiny of spending.
In the first quarter of the 2025/26 fiscal year (April–June), total revenue rose 8.6 percent year-on-year to P18.7 billion, while expenditure dropped 9 percent to P20.2 billion. The shortfall shrank to P1.1 billion from P5 billion a year earlier. By July, a P3.5 billion surplus emerged as Southern African Customs Union (SACU) transfers—worth about P6 billion—lifted revenue to P10.4 billion against spending of P6.9 billion. With wages alone nearing P4 billion a month, officials say the clampdown must hold.
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