MANILA, Philippines — Domestic debt rose to P5.96 trillion as of end-July as the government continued to issue more securities amid strong demand from investors, according to the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr).

The outstanding government securities issued by the government swelled by 1.12 percent to P5.96 trillion as of end-July from P5.89 trillion a month earlier.

Of the amount, 86 percent or P5.12 trillion came from the issuance of Treasury bonds or T-bonds, while the remaining 14 percent came from Treasury bills or T-bills.

Further broken down, the outstanding value of three-year and five-year bonds as of July 31 stood at P153.52 billion and P426.51 billion, respectively. The outstanding seven-year securities also reached P594.79 billion.

The 10-year debt papers were valued at P563.3 trillion, while the 20-year bonds amounted to P420.33 billion.

According to the BTr, outstanding retail Treasury bonds (RTB) of the government amounted to P1.7 trillion, while benchmark bonds and onshore dollar securities reached P939.3 billion and P24.56 billion, respectively.

The Treasury also raised P50 billion from the issuance of 25-year Central Bank-Board of Liquidators bonds and P4.96 billion from the sale of Premyo bonds.

Meanwhile, the Treasury said the value of outstanding Treasury bills as of end-July reached P833.43 billion, up 4.62 percent from P796.6 billion as of end- June.

Of the amount, P15 billion came in the form of 35-day bills, P142 billion in 91-day securities, P201.86 billion in 182-day papers, and P474.58 billion in 364-day debt notes.

The government ramps up its borrowings to plug the deficit in its budget, which is expected to widen to 9.6 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) this year due to the pandemic.

In July, the BTr was programmed to raise P205 billion from the sale of fixed rate T-bonds and T-bills.

Strong demand and low rates allowed the BTr to make full awards during auctions last month. However, some auctions were cancelled to give way to the government’s RTB sale from July 16 to Aug. 7.

For the whole of 2020, the national government is programmed to borrow a record P3 trillion, the bulk of which will come from domestic lenders.

Source: https://www.philstar.com/business/2020/08/13/2034807/domestic-debt-nears-p6-trillion-mark-july