The Marcos administration’s gross borrowings surged past the ₱1 trillion threshold in the first quarter as the government aggressively front-loaded its financing requirements to get ahead of rising market volatility.

According to the latest data from the Bureau of the Treasury, President Marcos’ total financing for the three months through March jumped more than 35 percent from ₱745.1 billion during the same period last year,

The government initially planned a borrowing target of ₱824 billion for the quarter, but heavy activity in February pushed the final tally well beyond that estimate. This fiscal sprint was fueled primarily by a massive pivot to the domestic market, where the Treasury sought to lock in liquidity amid shifting global sentiment.

Domestic gross borrowings reached ₱731.1 billion in the January-to-March period, an increase of more than 60 percent compared to the ₱450.8 billion raised a year earlier.

The domestic borrowing spree reached its zenith in February when the government raised ₱468.2 billion in a single month. That figure was more than triple the ₱140.8 billion raised in February 2025. Activity moderated significantly by March, with domestic fundraising slowing to ₱46.8 billion as the Treasury pivoted its focus toward external creditors.

A breakdown of the local debt profile showed that ₱644.8 billion was raised through fixed-rate Treasury bonds, a sharp rise from the ₱402.4 billion generated through the same instruments in the first quarter of 2025.

Appetite for short-dated Treasury bills also strengthened, with the government tapping ₱86.3 billion from the auctions, up from ₱48.4 billion in the prior year.

Domestic debt accounted for 72.8 percent of total borrowings for the quarter. While substantial, this ratio fell short of the 77.1 percent seen at the end of February and sits slightly below the administration’s long-term target of a 77 percent domestic-to-foreign borrowing mix.

On the external front, gross foreign debt for the first quarter totaled ₱272.6 billion, a 7.4 percent decline from the ₱294.3 billion recorded in the first quarter of 2025. The government front-loaded its overseas requirements in January through a ₱161.3 billion multi-tranche global bond issuance.

While foreign activity paused in February, it resumed in March with ₱69.9 billion raised, supported by ₱50.9 billion in program loans and ₱19.1 billion in project-specific financing. Cumulative project loans for the quarter hit ₱31.5 billion, nearly doubling the ₱17.2 billion recorded by the end of March 2025.

The decision to front-load debt comes as geopolitical tensions in the Middle East begin to weigh on investor sentiment. For the second quarter, the Treasury expects to seek ₱784 billion from local lenders, a five percent decrease from the previous quarter’s target.

However, with the first-quarter goal already eclipsed and the peso facing persistent pressure, the administration must navigate a high-yield environment where regional instability threatens to drive up the cost of future debt service.