The national government’s gross borrowings in January to July rose 24.83 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 seven months of the year jumped to P1.55 trillion from the P1.25 trillion recorded a year ago.
Gross domestic borrowings for the period accounted for the bigger chunk amounting to P1.17 trillion, up 28.37 percent from the year ago level of P909.07 billion.
Of the said amount, P794.53 billion is in fixed rate treasury bonds while P88.7 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 15.28 percent to P387.88 billion from P336.48 billion a year ago.
Project loans totaled to P79.21 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 July alone, the government recorded gross financing of P131.94 billion, 24.59 percent down from the P174.95 billion in the same month last year.
Gross domestic borrowings amounted to P110.5 billion while foreign borrowings stood at P21.44 billion.
Earlier, the BTr reported that the national government’s budget deficit significantly shrank in July as the growth in revenues outpaced that of expenditures.
The budget shortfall in July stood at P47.8 billion, 44.89 percent down from the P86.8 billion a year ago on the back of the 33.4 percent growth in revenue collection versus the 16.22 percent increase in government expenditures.
The year-to-date fiscal performance resulted in a cumulative budget gap of P599.5 billion, also down by 21.22 percent compared to the P761 billion shortfall registered in the first seven months of the previous year.
