The national government’s gross borrowings in January to August rose 21.76 percent year-on-year as both foreign and domestic financing registered double-digit increases.
According to the latest cash operations report posted on the Bureau of the Treasury’s (BTr) website, the government’s gross borrowings in the first eight months of the year jumped to P1.68 trillion from the P1.38 trillion recorded a year ago.
Gross domestic borrowings for the period accounted for the bigger chunk amounting to P1.28 trillion, up 23.37 percent from the year ago level of P1.04 trillion.
Of the said amount, P904.76 billion is in fixed rate treasury bonds, while P95.84 billion was accounted for by treasury bills.
In February, the government also raised P283.76 billion from its 5.5-year retail treasury bond offer.
Meanwhile, the BTr data also showed that gross external borrowings for the period went up by 16.81 percent to P394.56 billion from P337.79 billion a year ago.
Project loans totaled to P85.89 billion while P145.06 billion was from program loans.
The Philippine government also raised P163.61 billion from its global bond issuance in January, when it had a triple-tranche US dollar bond sale.
In August alone, the government recorded gross financing of P124.06 billion, 6.96 percent down from the P133.34 billion in the same month last year.
Gross domestic borrowings amounted to P117.37 billion while foreign borrowings stood at P6.68 billion.
The BTr earlier reported that the national government’s deficit widened in August as revenues declined while expenditures rose year-on-year.
The national government’s budget deficit climbed to P133 billion in August 2023, 84.63 percent higher compared to last year’s budget gap of P72 billion for the same month.
The fiscal outcome is attributed to the 6.58 percent drop in revenue collection coupled with the 9.66 percent expenditure growth.
This brings the year-to-date fiscal performance to a budget deficit of P732.5 billion, 12.06 percent down from the year ago level of P833 billion.
