Gov’t borrowings down 43.5% in Aug.

Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

What the government borrowed in the first eight months of the year was less than the amount it took out in the same period of 2013, the Bureau of Treasury (BTr) said.

Data from the Treasury showed that total government borrowings from January to August amounted to P252.059 billion—down 43.5 percent from the P446.2 billion secured in the same eight-month period of 2013.

External borrowings, or loans from multilateral lenders, at the end of August amounted P88.953 billion, of which P35.732 billion was earmarked for specific projects. About P24.5 billion would be infused into foreign-funded programs, including a number of post-Yolanda relief and recovery initiatives such as those of the Asian Development Bank, International Bank for Reconstruction and Development and World Bank.

The government continued to borrow more from domestic, rather than foreign, sources as it raised P163.106 billion from the auction of treasury bills and bonds at the end of the eight-month period.

Finance Secretary Cesar V. Purisima last week said the government would continue to tap domestic sources for its borrowing requirements to lessen the country’s exposure to risks posed by the global financial market.

In August alone, the government secured P2.247 billion from multilateral lenders, while the bulk of P20.571 billion had been sourced locally.

On a month-on-month basis, the total borrowings in August worth P22.818 billion were 84.7 percent lower than the P148.9 billion recorded in the same month last year. That figure was also 58.5 percent less than the P55.038 billion taken out in July.