Marcos administration’s gross borrowings increased to ₱2.56 trillion in 2024 amid massive increases in both domestic and foreign borrowings, the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) reported.

Data from the BTr showed that total borrowings went up ₱370 billion last year. This is equivalent to a nearly 17 percent hike from ₱2.19 trillion in 2023. 

The full-year borrowings exceeded the Marcos administration’s borrowing plan by ₱350 billion. It was nearly 16 percent higher than the programmed ₱2.21 trillion for the year.

Gross domestic debt jumped by ₱290 billion, reaching ₱1.92 trillion in 2024. This is equivalent to a nearly 18 percent increase from the ₱1.63 trillion total borrowings in 2023. 

This accounted for 75 percent of the total borrowing during the year, a slight improvement from the 74.5 percent share in 2023. However, this fell short of the programmed borrowing mix of 80:20—80-percent foreign, 20-percent domestic.

Last year, the government planned to borrow just ₱1.85 trillion but it exceeded ₱70 billion.

Broken down, the BTr raised ₱1.11 trillion from fixed-rate Treasury bonds (T-bonds), slightly lower than the amount it borrowed in 2023. But the government more than doubled its borrowings from retail T-bonds, which stood at ₱584.9 billion from ₱252.091 billion in 2023.

Likewise, the Treasury nearly doubled its borrowing of Treasury bills (T-bills) last year compared to 2023, raising ₱224.3 billion in short-term debt, up from ₱119.5 billion the previous year.

Similarly, gross foreign debt last year increased by over ₱82 billion to ₱641.2 billion, from ₱559 billion total external borrowings in 2023. This is equivalent to a nearly 15 percent increase within a year. 

This amount exceeded the planned foreign borrowings of ₱606.9 billion.

External debt comprised ₱271.3 billion in program loans, ₱256.2 billion in global bonds, and ₱113.6 billion in new project loans.

In December alone, gross borrowings slipped by over ₱22 billion to ₱69.8 billion from ₱92.1 billion in the same month in 2023.

Domestic debt stood at ₱11 billion, rising from ₱6.2 billion a year ago. Of these, ₱15 billion were raised by the government from fixed-rate T-bonds and ₱4 billion from while T-bills.

Meanwhile, external debt dropped by nearly ₱40 billion to ₱58.8 billion from ₱98.3 billion in December 2023. Of that amount, ₱17.9 billion were borrowed for projects, and ₱40.8 billion for programs.