Marcos admin's borrowings rise to ₱213 billion in January 2025
The Marcos administration increased its borrowings mainly from domestic sources at the start of 2025, such that total gross financing reached ₱213.1 billion in January.
This posted a ₱9.9 billion or nearly five percent hike from the ₱203.2 billion recorded in January last year, according to the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr).
January's gross borrowings accounted for over eight percent of the government's total planned borrowings of ₱2.545 trillion for the year.
Gross domestic debt made up over 71 percent of the total but remained far below the government's target of an 80 percent share. For this year, the government aims to attain an 80:20 borrowing ratio between domestic and foreign debt.
Its total domestic debt increased by ₱10.7 billion, reaching ₱152.2 billion. This reflects a nearly eight percent increase from the ₱141.5 billion borrowed locally a year earlier.
Broken down, the BTr raised ₱140 billion from fixed-rate treasury bonds (T-bonds), higher than the amount it borrowed in 2024.
It also increased its borrowings from short-dated treasury bills (T-bills), which stood at ₱12.2 billion from ₱11.5 billion a year ago.
Meanwhile, gross foreign debt slightly decreased from ₱61.6 billion in January last year to ₱60.9 billion. This a decline of ₱700 million or just over one percent.
Despite the decline, it still exceeded the government's planned foreign debt share of 20 percent, reaching nearly 29 percent in January.
Program loans from multilateral lenders and bilateral development partners, in particular, reached ₱56.3 billion, matching last year’s record.
Meanwhile, the government reduced its project loans to ₱4.7 billion, down from ₱5.3 billion in 2024.
It can be recalled that the Marcos administration’s gross borrowings surged to ₱2.56 trillion in 2024, up ₱370 billion, or nearly 17 percent, from ₱2.19 trillion in 2023, driven by a sharp rise in domestic and foreign debt.
Last year’s total borrowings exceeded the administration’s borrowing plan by ₱100 billion. It was over four percent higher than the programmed ₱2.46 trillion for the year.