Business Business News Borrowings up 14% in Q1
Borrowings up 14% in Q1
- Details
- Published on Monday, 30 April 2012 00:00
- Written by ANGELA CELIS
By A Web design Company
The government’s total gross borrowings surged 14.17 percent in the first quarter of this year, as funds from local and foreign sources will be used to support its plan to boost public expenditures.
Data from the Bureau of Treasury show the government borrowed P325.22 billion in the first three months of the year, higher than the P284.86 billion recorded in the same period in 2011.
The government borrowed more from domestic lenders as local borrowings increased 64.86 percent to P242.16 billion from P146.88 billion.
Gross external borrowings dropped 39.8 percent to P83.07 billion from the P137.98 billion a year ago.
The increase in borrowings in the first quarter will help the government in financing projects that will boost the economy.
Data from the Department of Budget and Management show that disbursements made by the government increased 13.1 percent year on year in the first quarter.
Public spending totaled P394.88 billion from January to March 2012, up from the P349.28 billion recorded in the same period last year.
However, the government’s efforts to boost public spending in the first quarter were not enough to meet the three-month disbursement goal of P440.59 billion.
Budget Secretary Florencio Abad reminded implementing agencies that there is a need to catch up on the P45.71 billion slack within the second quarter of the year.
“If we are to pick up spending over the next months, agencies must ensure that they are able to execute key programs and projects within schedule,” Abad said in an earlier statement.
The bulk of foreign borrowings for the period consists of P66.04 billion in ROP bonds which were sold in January 2012.
Project loans totaled P3.5 billion while program loans reached P13.51 billion.
Payments for external debt amounted to P16.25 billion, bringing the net external borrowings as of end-March to P66.82 billion, 21.71 percent higher than the P54.9 billion recorded during the same period last year.
On the domestic side, the bulk of the borrowings was in the form of retail treasury bonds issued in March worth P179.8 billion.
The issued fixed rate treasury bonds during the three-month period totaled P89.86 billion, while the Treasury reported a net redemption of T-bills at P27.51 billion.
Payments for domestic debt amounted to P146.50 billion, bringing local net borrowings to P95.65 billion, a reversal of the P48 million net redemptions made during the same period last year.
For March alone, the government’s total gross borrowings stood at P189.73 billion, 5.9 percent lower than the P201.63 billion borrowed during the same month last year.
Gross external borrowings amounted to P1.63 billion, while gross local borrowings totaled P188.1 billion.
Total net borrowings for the month reached P151.27 billion, 22.21 percent higher than the P123.78 billion recorded in March 2011.
