National Government (NG) cash spending for 2021 totaled P4.7 trillion, a 10.6% increase from 2020. NG spending had consistently grown faster than revenue since 2019 with a double-digit growth year-on-year. Higher NG spending raised the expenditure-GDP ratio to 25.3% from 24.1% in 2020 and 19.5% in 2019. With revenue increasing by 5.2% as expenditure growth waned, deficit growth slowed down to 21.8% from 107.7% in 2020. However, in spite of slower deficit growth, deficit-to-GDP at 9.0% in 2021 is the highest recorded since 1986.
