Gov’t to borrow P270B locally in 4th quarter

The government will borrow P270 billion locally through the issuance of treasury bills and bonds in the fourth quarter, a smaller program than a quarter ago, as loans from two multilateral lenders will be released during the period.

In a Sept. 21 memorandum to government securities eligible dealers, National Treasurer Rosalia V. de Leon said the Bureau of the Treasury would auction P180 billion in bills on top of P90 billion in bonds between October and December.

In a text message, De Leon explained that the lower fourth-quarter domestic borrowing program, as compared to the P300 billion during the third quarter, was due to the the upcoming disbursement of program loans by the Manila-based Asian Development Bank and the Washington-based World Bank.

Separately, Deputy Treasurer Erwin D. Sta. Ana told reporters that there were some weeks in December that the government would not be productive in terms of raising funds through the auctions as investors usually shy away from buying IOUs toward yearend.

On the 12 Mondays between Oct. 1 and Dec. 17, the Treasury will sell P15 billion in T-bills each—P4-billion 91-day, P5-billion 182-day and P6-billion 364-day.