Philippines 2025 deficit barely narrows to 5.62% of GDP as interest costs climb

Spending cuts lowered the deficit while revenue fell

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) figures cover the Philippines' budgetary central government, which is the main national government budget. Net borrowing is the gap between what the government spends and what it collects. It shows how much new debt the government needs. In 2025 it was 5.62% of gross domestic product (GDP), or PHP 1.574tn (trillion Philippine pesos). It was 6.11% in 2023 and 8.27% in 2021.

• Expenditure fell to 21.51% of GDP from 22.38% in 2024.
• Revenue slipped to 15.89% of GDP from 16.70%.

Interest is the one cost still rising

Interest payable reached 3.08% of GDP in 2025. That is up from 2.89% in 2024 and 1.85% in 2019. The primary deficit leaves out interest payments. It narrowed to 2.54% of GDP from 2.79%. The Philippines is cutting its deficit slowly while it collects less revenue and pays more in interest.

Deficits for the United States and Türkiye were revised

General government covers all levels of government.

• US general government net borrowing for 2025 was revised narrower, to $2.251tn (trillion US dollars) from $2.294tn. The 2024 figure now reads $2.354tn.
• US general government interest payable for 2025 was revised up to $1.309tn from $1.243tn. It was $816bn (billion US dollars) in 2022.
• US state government interest receivable for 2024 was revised to $175.5bn from $87.9bn. The 2025 figure was revised to $190.6bn from $92.8bn. These changes are the main reason other revenue and property income were revised up.
• Türkiye's general government net borrowing for 2025 was revised wider, to TRY 707bn (billion Turkish lira) from TRY 662bn. The 2024 figure is TRY 1.61tn (trillion Turkish lira).