National gov’t borrowings hit P44.4B in July

A P21.4-billion program loan in July jacked up the national government’s gross borrowings to a total of P44.4 billion that month.

The latest Bureau of the Treasury data showed the combined gross external and domestic borrowings in July jumped 213 percent from P14.2 billion during the same month last year.

In July, borrowings from foreign sources, including multilateral lenders, development partners and proceeds from offshore bond issuances, reached P23.1 billion, up from only P1.2 billion a year ago. The large program loan accounted for the bulk of foreign borrowings that month.

Gross local borrowings in July, meanwhile, amounted P21.3 billion, higher than a year ago’s P13 billion.

The domestic borrowings came from the sale of short-dated treasury bills.

From January to July, gross borrowings totaled P505.3 billion, down 3 percent from P519.9 billion in the same period last year.

End-July gross external borrowings rose to P178.9 billion from P140.4 billion a year ago.

Gross domestic borrowings during the seven-month period, on the other hand, declined to P326.4 billion from P379.6 billion last year.

For 2018, the programmed borrowing mix is 64-percent local, 36-percent foreign.