MANILA, Philippines—The Bureau of the Treasury plans to issue a total of P106.5 billion in domestic debt paper in the second quarter of 2012, lower by 9 percent from the previous quarter.
Similarly, the domestic borrowing plan for the April-June quarter represents a decrease of 9 percent from the P117 billion in the same period last year.
The year-on-year decrease in domestic borrowing followed the issuance of $1.5 billion in global bonds last January and of P179.8 billion in retail treasury bonds last February.
In a notice to dealers of government securities, National Treasurer Roberto B. Tan said the government was scheduled to offer in seven fortnightly auctions a total of P14 billion in 91-day treasury bills, P14 billion in 182-day bills and P24.5 billion in 364-day bills.
Also in the second quarter, the Treasury is set to offer a batch of five-year bonds, another of seven-year bonds, and two batches each of 10-year and 15-year bonds. Each batch of treasury bond issues is worth P9 billion.
Borrowings lined up in the second quarter are expected to help the government follow through with speedy budget disbursements made earlier to help line agencies implement projects while the weather is relatively better during the early part of the year.
Budget Secretary Florencio B. Abad earlier said his department has released 61 percent or P1.1 trillion of the P1.8-trillion national budget for 2012 as of end-February.
Abad said this was achieved with the disbursement of a big chunk of automatic appropriations amid efforts to speed up spending compared to the government’s 2011 performance.
He said that in contrast to last year’s performance, the government was determined to make the bulk of fund releases within the first semester of this fiscal year.
“This way, government agencies can take advantage of the good weather in the coming months for rolling out their projects, ahead of the opening of classes and the rainy season,” Abad said.
“The releases will enable all government departments and agencies to implement key projects and programs within—or even ahead of—their respective schedules for this fiscal year,” he added.