The Marcos administration's borrowing decreased in the first quarter of this year due to reduced funding from international creditors, data from the Bureau of the Treasury showed.
Gross borrowings of the national government totaled P830.4 billion from January to March 2024, a 12 percent decline from the P948.1 billion borrowed in the same period last year.
The Treasury report attributed this decrease to a significant 60 percent drop in foreign borrowings, which came from P295.1 billion last year to P117.26 billion this year.
The majority of the government's borrowings last quarter were in the form of program loans totaling P95.43 billion, with project loans amounting to P21.82 billion.
Meanwhile, local borrowings by the government increased by 12 percent to P1,731.13 billion from P653 billion the previous year.
Domestic borrowings consisted of Treasury bills (P61.72 billion) and Treasury bonds (P310 billion), the Treasury data indicated.
Additionally, the government raised P341.41 billion through the sale of retail Treasury bonds (RTBs).
In March alone, the Marcos administration raised P207.26 billion, which represents a 13 percent rise from the P237.6 billion raised in the same month in 2023.
Of that total, domestic borrowing increased by seven percent from P146.04 billion to P156.39 billion.
Meanwhile, foreign financing in the last month dropped by 44 percent to P50.87 billion from P91.56 billion.