Gov't borrows P124B in November
Government borrowings jumped fourfold last month following the issuance of retail bonds aimed at small investors although foreign borrowings decreased significantly, data from the Bureau of the Treasury showed.
According to the data, gross financing of the Duterte administration increased by 314 percent to P124.04 billion in November this year from P29.97 billion in the same month in 2019.
The bulk of the borrowings was sourced domestically with P114.83 billion, a significant increase compared with only P8.06 billion a year ago.
Of the total local borrowings, the sale of retail treasury bonds (RTBs) cornered P69.83 billion, while the balance P45 billion accounted for by short-dated IOUs, or Treasury bills (T-bills).
Foreign borrowings, however, dropped by 58 percent during the month to P9.2 billion from P21.91 billion in the previous year.
External financing in November was entirely consisted of concessional project loans from multilateral lending institutions, the treasury data showed.
Meanwhile, the government borrowings in the first 11-months of the year jumped by 210 percent year-on-year primarily due to requirements to address the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic.
Total borrowings stood at a record P3.047 trillion at end-November 2020, well above the P981.9 billion registered in the same period last year.
Bulk of the financing is accounted for by those sourced locally, with a gross amount of P2.46 trillion while the balance of P582.63 billion is accounted for by external financing.
Economic managers have set a P3-trillion borrowing program each for this year and next, and domestic fundraising accounts for the bulk at 75 percent through the issuance of treasury bonds (T-bond), T-bills, and RTBs, among others.
In October, the national government debt had surpassed the P10 trillion mark amid unprecedented borrowings for the coronavirus response.
Total outstanding debt reached P10.028 trillion as of October, up by 26.8 percent compared with P7.906 trillion in the same period last year.
The actual end-October government debt is just 1.3 percent short to hit the Duterte administration’s P10.16 trillion target for 2020.
Since January, the Duterte administration has added P1.949 trillion to the total domestic debt stock and P658.81 billion in October alone.
The government needed to borrow to bridge its widening budget deficit in 2020 due to dwindling revenues brought about by the economic downturn.
The Philippines is in recession this year after its economy slid by 11.5 in the third quarter, 16.9 percent in the second quarter, and 0.7 percent in the first. In the first three-quarters of the year, the country’s gross domestic product contracted by 10 percent.