Government borrowing shot up in February this year on the back of higher retail treasury bond issuance. Data from the Bureau of the Treasury showed that gross financing of the Marcos administration climbed to P375.24 billion in the second month of 2023 from only P53.12 billion in the previous year. Bulk of the borrowing came from the domestic market after the government loaned P359.26 billion during the month, a significant increase from P45 billion in February 2022. According to the Treasury, the latest issuance of 5.5-year RTB, which catered to small Filipino savers, pushed up borrowings. To recall, the government raised P283.71 billion through RTB in February, a three-fold increase from last year’s P70 billion offering. Domestic borrowing, however, was tempered by the P25 billion net payment of the government for Treasury bills, a reversal of the P5.5 billion net borrowing incurred in February last year. However, the government also borrowed more from external sources after raising P15.98 billion. Year-on-year, it nearly doubled from P8.12 billion in February 2022. Based on the Treasury data, overseas borrowing was solely intended for project loans. In the first two months of 2023, the government borrowed P742.11 billion from local and foreign creditors, 51 percent higher compared with P492.25 billion in the same period last year. Foreign borrowings doubled to P203.55 billion at end-February from P101.7 billion, while domestic financing rose 38 percent from P390.55 billion to P538.56 billion. In 2022, the national government borrowed at a much lower amount than initially estimated on the back of robust revenue haul of the tax agencies. Total borrowings amounted to P2.163 trillion from January to December 2022, below the P2.212 trillion program for the year. At the same time, the government also reduced its borrowing by 16 percent against P2.579 trillion in full-year 2021. In 2023, the Marcos administration is planning to borrow P2.207 trillion from offshore and local banks to help bridge the government’s projected budget deficit amounting to P1.1453 trillion. As of February 2023, the national government’s outstanding debt stock stood at P13.752 trillion  trillion, up by 14 percent from P12.093 trillion a year ago. Month-on-month, it also inched up by 0.4 percent from P13.698 trillion last January. Of the total debt stock, 68.7 percent were domestic borrowings, while 31.3 percent from external sources.