Gov’t borrowings hit P22B

THE GOVERNMENT borrowed P22.1 billion in May, the lowest monthly borrowing so far this year, the Bureau of the Treasury data showed.

Gross external borrowings through program and project loans from multilateral lenders amounted to P760 million in May, also the smallest in the first five months.

Domestic borrowings from the sale of treasury bonds and treasury bills totaled P21.4 billion.

The total amount borrowed last May, however, was higher than the P21.2 billion in the same month last year.

As of the end of May, government borrowings hit P150.8 billion, up 2.2 percent from P147.6 billion in the first five months of 2014.

The end-May external borrowings rose by 42.2 percent to P80.4 billion from P56.6 billion a year ago, while those sourced locally dropped by 22.7 percent to P70.3 billion from P91 billion last year.

For the entire 2015, the borrowing program is 75 percent domestic (P532.7 billion) and 25 percent foreign (P178.1 billion).

For next year, the government plans to borrow P674.8 billion, lower than the P710.8 billion programmed for this year, to slash the debt stock—the share of outstanding debt to the gross domestic product—to a record-low of 41.8 percent.

In 2016, domestic borrowings will account for 85 percent of the total or P570.2 billion.

The government also intends to borrow P104.6 billion from foreign sources next year—P54.1 billion in program loans, P17.1 billion in project loans and P33.4 billion in bonds and other inflows.

A decade ago, the debt stock was at a high of 68.5 percent of GDP, before being trimmed to below 50 percent starting 2013.