PRESIDENT Arroyo said recently that lower budget deficit and increased revenue collection will further boosts investor confidence in the country.

At a roundtable discussion recently n Malacañang, the President announced that the budget deficit for January was down to P15.4 billion or P4.5 billion lower than the projection of P20.9 billion for the month.

“Aside from the bullish stock market and the strong peso, there is another good reason investor confidence in the country would increase: our budget deficit for January was at P15.4 billion, which is lower than the target of P20.9 billion,” the President said.

“This also means that we have more funds for infrastructure and education,” she added.
She said the lower budget deficit was due to increased revenue collection, which she placed at P72.6 billion, and the P2.7 billion savings from government operations for January.

Arroyo said increased revenue collection was the result of economic reforms her administration introduced last year and which were implemented by revenue collecting agencies of the government.

Among these policies are those designed to eradicate corruption, smuggling, piracy and trafficking of material covered by intellectual property rights (IPR), and the fight against tax cheats and economic saboteurs.