THE government’s borrowings in the first quarter rose by 5.31 percent, amid higher domestic and foreign gross financing from a year ago.
According to data posted by the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) in its website, the national government’s gross borrowings in January to March amounted to P656.72 billion, up from the P623.6 billion recorded in the same period a year ago.
Local borrowings went up by 3.96 percent to P510.03 billion, from P490.62 billion in the first three months of 2019.
During the period, the BTr raised P310.77 billion from its retail treasury bonds (RTB) sale in February.
The government also issued P128.79 billion worth of fixed-rate treasury bonds, while P70.48 billion was in the form of treasury bills.
Foreign financing on the other hand amounted to P146.69 billion, 10.3 percent up from the P132.98 billion a year ago.
The government was able to borrow from foreign sources through a euro bond issuance in February which raised P67.33 billion.
It was also able to borrow through project and program loans, worth P6.64 billion and P72.72 billion, respectively.
In March, the government’s gross borrowings stood at P72.15 billion, 77.06 percent down versus the P314.47 billion recorded in the same period a year ago.
This was due to the timing of the RTB issuance which was made in March in 2019, while it was done in February this year.
Of the said amount, P9.05 billion was from foreign lenders while P63.1 billion was accounted for by domestic financing.
