Puerto Rico's March net revenues came in 1.2% below the government's projections.
For the first nine months of the fiscal year, General Fund net revenues are 1.4% above projections.
"This month's satisfactory collections have been beneficial as we continue to work towards reducing the deficit and achieving a balanced budget for the coming fiscal year," said Puerto Rico Treasury Secretary Melba Acosta Febo. "We will spare no effort in our endeavors to continue down this path. We are also implementing strict measures for controlling expenses, which will set the foundation for the economic progress of the island."
Revenues in March were down $222 million or 22% from March 2013 net revenues. "In March of last year, $241 million from the Debt Redemption Fund went into the General Fund, which equaled an amount related to certain cancelled swaps," Acosta Febo said. "This measure was taken in order to manage the $965 million deficit in collections that this administration encountered in January of 2013. This transfer of revenues will not recur this year. For comparative purposes, if the collections for last year were adjusted to account for that amount, revenues for this month would show an increase of $19 million or 2.5%."
Compared to expectations for March, the biggest positive surprise was non-resident withholdings, which came in $81 million higher than expected, and the biggest negative surprise was corporate income taxes, which came in $69 million less than expected.
In the first nine months the government has collected $6.08 billion in net revenues. This is $86 million more than projections for the period and $269 million more than collections in the first nine months of fiscal year 2012-2013.
