Govt borrowings hit P289B in May

By Mayvelin U. Caraballo, Manila Times, 13 Jul 2020

The national government’s gross financing in May increased to over P289 billion, bringing the year-to-date borrowings to P1.50 trillion, data released by the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) showed.

The actual P289.81 gross financing in May soared by 130.73 percent from P125.60 billion in the same month a year ago.

During the month, domestic financing climbed by 234.93 percent to P170.51 billion from P50.90 billion a year earlier.

Local borrowings were generated through P75.51-billion and P95-billion worth of Treasury bills and fixed-rate bonds, respectively.

External financing, meanwhile, grew by 59.71 percent to P119.30 billion from P74.69 billion during the same month the previous year.

The total external borrowings in May were raised through P572-million worth of project loans and P118.73 billion generated through global bonds.

Year-to-date, government borrowings picked up by 44.23 percent to P1.50 trillion from P1.04 trillion in the same period in 2019.

The Treasury bureau earlier reported that the national government’s outstanding debt surged to an all-time high P8.89 trillion at the end of May as it ramps up its domestic and external borrowings to fund its coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic response.

The amount was up by 3.4 percent or P290.53 billion from the P8.60 trillion in April, “primarily due to the increased reliance on government securities issuance and external loan availments to fund Covid-19 response amid a sharp drop in revenue collections.”

For June, the BTr set a P170-billion local borrowing program, which is 5.55-percent smaller than the P180 billion in the same month a year ago.

Of the amount set, the government would generate P110 billion through the issuance of Treasury bills and the remaining P60 billion through Treasury bonds.

Last year, the government borrowed P1.01 trillion from creditors, a 13.17-percent growth from P897.55 billion in 2018.

Meanwhile, the Department of Finance has said as of July 1, it already secured a total of $7.76 billion financing for the government’s Covid-19 response.