Gov’t borrowings rose to P37.9B in April

The national government’s borrowings inched up to P37.9 billion in April as the increase in locally sourced debt offset the lower amount of foreign loans obtained that month.

The latest Bureau of the Treasury data showed that the combined gross external and domestic borrowings in April rose 3 percent from P36.7 billion a year ago.

External financing in April amounted to P3.4 billion, comprised of project loans from multilateral lenders and bilateral development partners.

The project loans obtained that month were slightly lower than the P3.5-billion worth last year.

Domestic borrowings coming from the sale of treasury bills and bonds, meanwhile, totaled P34.5 billion in April, up from a year ago’s P33.2 billion.

Fixed-rate T-bonds sold that month amounted to P20 billion, while net T-bills reached P14.5 billion.

At the end of the first four months, total gross borrowings hit P661.5 billion, up 172 percent from P242.9 billion during the same four-month period last year.

End-April gross external borrowings declined to P136.4 billion from P147.9 billion a year ago.

Meanwhile, gross domestic borrowings jumped to P525.1 billion as of April from a year ago’s P95 billion, as the Treasury sold P235.8 billion in retail treasury bonds last March.

The government had programmed gross borrowings for the entire 2019 at P1.2 trillion, of which the bulk, or P906.2 billion, will be sourced locally through the sale of treasury bills and bonds.

This year’s gross foreign borrowings will amount to P282.7 billion.