MANILA The Philippine government posted a budget deficit of 250.9 billion pesos ($4.42 billion) for September, 39% higher than the deficit in the same period last year, the Bureau of the Treasury said on Wednesday.

That brought the cumulative budget deficit for the January-September period to 983.5 billion, down by 2.9% compared with the same period last year, preliminary data showed.

($1 = 56.8250 Philippine pesos)

(Reporting by Neil Jerome Morales)