Gov’t borrowings down in October

MANILA, Philippines–The government borrowed less in the month of October, bringing the 10-month total to P297.02 billion, or more than two-fifths smaller than last year’s.

Latest Bureau of the Treasury data showed that the end-October borrowings were 44.2 percent lower than the P532.02 billion during the first 10 months of 2013.

In the month of October alone, combined domestic and foreign loans totaled P16.92 billion, down from September’s P22.5 billion as well as the P54.09 billion borrowed in October last year.

Domestic borrowing, which comes mainly from the auction of treasury bills and bonds, saw a dip to P16.04 billion last October from P17.16 billion in September.

As of end-October, domestic borrowing stood at P201.84 billion, or 67 percent of the borrowing mix.

Loans sourced from multilateral lenders, meanwhile, contracted to P880 million in October from P5.35 billion last September.

The 10-month external borrowing figure reached P95.18 billion.

Next year, the government plans a borrowing mix of 86-percent domestic and 14-percent external as the “mountains of cash” being held by the Treasury are seen as enough buffer to sustain expenditures.

Fast-tracked post-“Yolanda” rehabilitation under a master plan approved by the President last October is expected to spur government disbursement in early 2015 to reverse this year’s anemic spending.

The government would also issue Republic of the Philippines, or ROP, bonds early next year as part of the programmed $750-million external commercial funding schedule.