INQUIRER FILE PHOTO
MANILA – The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ (BSP) Monetary Board approved $3.81 billion public sector foreign borrowings in the third quarter of the year.
Data released by the BSP on Tuesday showed the public sector’s foreign borrowings from July to September this year went up by 36 percent from the $2.81 billion in the same period last year.
The borrowings include one bond issuance amounting to $2.50 billion, two project loans worth $535.97 million, and one program loan amounting to $778.59 million.
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The bond issuance will be used to fund the government’s general budget financing and financing or refinancing of assets in line with the Philippines’ Sustainable Finance Framework.
The loans, meanwhile, will be used to fund projects on maritime safety and support ($448.41 million), agrarian reform ($87.56 million), and program on economic recovery, environmental protection and climate resilience ($778.59 million).
“Under Section 20, Article VII of the 1987 Constitution of the Republic of the Philippines, prior approval of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, through its Monetary Board, is required for all foreign loans to be contracted or guaranteed by the Republic of the Philippines,” said the BSP.
The BSP added that Letter of Instructions 158 dated Jan. 21, 1974, also requires all foreign borrowing proposals by the National Government, government agencies and government financial institutions to be submitted for approval-in-principle by the Monetary Board before commencement of actual negotiations.
“The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas promotes the judicious use of the resources and ensures that external debt requirements are at manageable levels, to support external debt sustainability,” the BSP said. (PNA)