The Department of Finance (DoF) expects a slight improvement in the deficits of the 14 monitored corporations including National Food Authority next year or P61.94 billion from the estimated shortfall of P63.6 billion in 2009.

As for government financial and social security institutions, the DoF said financial positions will remain in surpluses, which for 2010 is expected at P51.35 billion or P10 billion higher than the programmed P41 billion this year.

Finance Secretary Margarito B. Teves said that by 2013, the overall public sector financial position will revert back a surplus. Based on earlier estimates, the expected CPSD for 2011 is P74.26 billion and P33.42 billion by 2012.

The government has programmed lower consolidated public sector deficit of P210.18 billion for 2010, equivalent to 2.5 percent of gross domestic product, lower than this year's programmed P233.9 billion or three percent of GDP.

"The public sector deficit will be scaled down in 2010 as the economy moves to a higher growth rate and the impact of the global financial meltdown dissipates," said Teves. "The deficits of the National Government and the 14 corporations will be trimmed down while the surpluses of SSIs and GFIs will improve," he added.

The DoF earlier projected a lower CPSD or the combined deficit for government owned and controlled corporations (GOCCs), GFIs and SSIs of P171.5 billion or 2.2 percent of GDP based on a P199.2-billion budget deficit for 2009.

The latest fiscal gap program has been adjusted higher to P250 billion based on lower GDP growth of 0.8-1.8 percent and reduced revenues of P1.239 trillion this year, of which P1.082 trillion are the taxes that will be collected by the Bureau of Internal Revenue and Bureau of Customs.

In programming a higher budget deficit, everything else including CPSD was also revised. The department and other agencies closely monitor 14 GOCCs.