Business NEWS

Government debt continued to snowball in February, driven mainly by both domestic and offshore borrowings as well as foreign exchange fluctuations.

The national government’s budget deficit narrowed in February this year owing to lower public spending.

The lingering anticipation over higher borrowing costs in the US caused the Philippines’ long-term benchmark interest rate to increase.

Investors continued to press for an increase in Philippine benchmark interest rates for short-term loans.

The Duterte administration has “successfully” completed its three-tranche foreign commercial borrowing on the back of volatile financial markets overseas, the Bureau of the Treasury announced.

The Duterte administration will sell fresh debt papers to overseas investors, including the government’s maiden green bond issue, a document from the Bureau of the Treasurer revealed.

The national government substantially increased the amount of subsidy it extended to government owned and controlled corporations (GOCCs) last January, particularly to the National Irrigation Administration (NIA).

The national government posted a bigger budget deficit in the first month of the year owing to higher interest payments, data from the Bureau of the Treasury showed.

Lingering concerns over higher inflation pushed up the interest rate for long-term Philippine debt papers.

Following two consecutive weeks of failed domestic borrowings, the national government made a partial award of the short-dated debt papers despite still elevated interest rates.

Debt payments by the Philippine government breached the P1-trillion mark last year amid heightened borrowings during the prolonged pandemic, data from the Bureau of the Treasury showed.

The Bureau of the Treasury failed anew to secure borrowings from the domestic market for a second consecutive week as banks continued to demand higher interest rates amid Russia’s escalating war in Ukraine.

The national government incurred more loans in January, bringing its debt above the P12-trillion mark for the first time, as the Philippines bogged down by prolonged Covid-19 pandemic.

The Duterte administration’s budget deficit fell below ceiling last year driven mainly by higher than expected revenues as well as slightly below programmed spending, the Bureau of the Treasury reported.

The national government successfully borrowed P457.8 billion from small Filipino savers.

Local short-term interest rates accelerated following Russia’s full-scale invasion of neighboring Ukraine.

Benchmark short-term interest rates rose on the back of higher inflation forecast of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) and concerns surrounding Ukraine.

An estimated P1.9 trillion-worth of non-financial government properties, such as roads, hospitals, power plants, and irrigation facilities, have so far been covered by the Bureau of the Treasury in its National Asset Registry System (NARS) as of last year.