The Marcos administration’s gross borrowings declined slightly to ₱1.757 trillion in the first seven months of the year, driven by a drop in domestic loans despite a more than 50 percent increase in foreign debt.

Data from the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) showed that the government’s debt as of end-July stood 0.1 percent lower than ₱1.759 trillion gross borrowings posted in the same period a year earlier.

As of end-July, gross borrowings accounted for 68.9 percent of the government’s total planned borrowings of ₱2.55 trillion for the year.

Foreign borrowings increased by 51 percent to ₱415.9 billion from January to July, compared to ₱275.5 billion in the same period a year earlier.

Loans sourced from foreign investors accounted for 23.6 percent of the total borrowings for the seven-month period, exceeding the target share of 20 percent for foreign debt.

This year, the government is targeting to secure 20 percent of its financing from foreign sources and 80 percent from domestic sources, resulting in an 80:20 borrowing mix.

Unchanged from the end-June record, the government had raised its program loans by 70.5 percent to ₱171.3 billion from last year’s ₱100.5 billion. It also raised the global bonds it settled by 66.7 percent to ₱192 billion from ₱115.2 billion.

On the other hand, loans to finance government projects were reduced by 11.9 percent to ₱52.6 billion from ₱59.7 billion in the previous year.

Meanwhile, gross domestic debt stood at ₱1.34 trillion, a 9.6 percent drop from the ₱1.48-trillion worth of the government’s gross domestic loans in the previous year. It accounted for 76.3 percent of the total borrowings during the seven-month period, falling short of the government’s target share of 80 percent.

Notably, the government had zero issuance of retail treasury bonds (RTBs), which it had issued ₱584 billion a year ago. The zero issuance of these more than half-a-trillion bonds slightly offset the pile-up in borrowings through the sale of other government securities to domestic lenders.

A total of ₱881.8 billion was raised through sales of fixed-rate treasury bonds (T-bonds) this year, 15.4 percent higher than the ₱764.2 billion issued a year earlier. The government also increased its borrowings via short-dated treasury bills (T-bills) by 18.7 percent to ₱159.9 billion from ₱134.7 billion a year ago.

Notably, the government issued fixed-rate treasury notes (FXTNs) worth ₱300 billion this year. There was no sale of these debt notes last year. Still, combined sales in the first half were lower than last year’s figures.

It can be recalled that the Marcos administration’s gross borrowings surged to ₱2.56 trillion in 2024, a 16.9 percent increase from ₱2.19 trillion in the previous year, driven by a sharp rise in both domestic and foreign debt.

Last year’s total borrowings exceeded the administration’s borrowing plan by ₱100 billion. It was 4.07 percent higher than the programmed ₱2.46 trillion for the year.

To note, the national government’s fiscal deficit widened to ₱784.4 billion in the first seven months of the year, a 22 percent jump compared with ₱642.8 billion in the same period last year, even as the budget gap narrowed in July alone.

Still, the year-to-date fiscal deficit remains “well within and on track” with the revised full-year ceiling of ₱1.56 trillion, according to the BTr.