August 2024 government borrowings up 40%

Government borrowings increase in August 2024 as the the Marcos administration sourced more from the domestic market, according to data from the Bureau of the Treasury. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

Gross borrowings of the Marcos administration went up in August as the government sourced more from the domestic market.

Data from the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) showed the combined gross domestic and external borrowings of the government amounted to P174 billion in August, up by 40.3 percent from last year’s P124.05 billion.

The state’s eight-month gross financing also rose by 17.4 percent to P1.93 trillion.

Based on the latest cash operations report of the BTr, local borrowings increased by 42.3 percent to P167.05 billion in August.

This included P27 billion in short-term financing via Treasury bills and P140 billion in long-dated Treasury bonds.

READ: 7-mo gov’t debt servicing cost soared 40.2% on high rates, larger domestic borrowings

Since the beginning of the year, domestic borrowings grew by 31.8 percent to P1.65 trillion from the P1.25 trillion in the same period last year.

Meanwhile, gross foreign financing grew by 4.6 percent to P6.99 billion in August. The amount only included project loans during the month.

For the first eight months, offshore borrowings reached P282.46 billion, down by 28.4 percent.

Last month, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) slashed the policy rate by 25 basis points (bps) to 6.25 percent. This was the first rate cut in almost four years or since November 2020, during the height of the pandemic.

BSP Governor Eli Remolona Jr. hinted at the possibility of more rate cuts amid easing consumer prices.

For the last three months of the year, the government aims to borrow P310 billion from the domestic market, down by more than half of the P630 billion borrowing program in the third quarter.