Philippines: Government borrowings up 22% in January

• Apr 10, 2018

MANILA, Philippines — The national government borrowed P47.66 billion from domestic and foreign lenders in January, nearly 22 percent higher than the P39.13 billion recorded in the same period in 2017, according to the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr).

Of the amount, P19.98 billion came from foreign lenders, slightly lower than the P20.04 billion recorded in the same period last year.

The government borrows from local and foreign creditors to pay maturing debt and finance its budget deficit, which is targeted at three percent of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP).

The bulk or P15.11 billion of total foreign borrowings came in the form of program loans, 15.85 percent lower than last year’s level of P17.96 billion.

Project loans, meanwhile, accounted for the remaining P4.86 billion, more than twice the P2.08 billion recorded in the same month last year.

Program and project loans come from multilateral agencies, such as the World Bank, Asian Development Bank and Japan International Cooperation Agency.

Domestic financing in January rose 45 percent to P27.68 billion from P19.09 billion a year ago.

About P12.79 billion of this amount came in the form of Treasury bills (T-bills), signalling net issuance of the securities. This was a reversal of the net redemption of T-bills in the same month last year amounting to P10.91 billion.

Meanwhile, Treasury bonds (T-bonds) declined by 50.36 percent to P14.89 billion from P30 billion in the same month in 2017 as the Treasury rejected and partially awarded bids during auctions that month.

As of end-January, the national government’s outstanding debt reached P6.726 trillion, 1.1 percent higher than the end-December level of P6.652 trillion.

For the whole year, the national government is programmed to borrow P889.51 billion from local and foreign lenders.

Of the amount, P176.26 billion will come from foreign financing, while the remaining P711.8 billion will be borrowed domestically.

Source: https://www.philstar.com/business/2018/04/10/1804359/government-borrowings-22-january#ZpSa0MeIZkTIQ91e.99