Outstanding IOUs hit new high as T-bills breached P1T in January

Outstanding locally issued debt rose to a new high of P6.78 trillion in January as short-dated treasury (T) bills breached the P1-trillion mark for the first time.

The total face amount of outstanding treasury bills rose from P949.48 billion in end-December 2020, while T-bonds inched up to P5.78 trillion from P5.74 trillion a month ago.

The latest Bureau of the Treasury data released on Wednesday showed that outstanding benchmark 91-day IOUs amounted to P126 billion; 182-day, P193.85 billion, and 364-day, P680.39 billion.

As for outstanding bonds, three-year T-bonds had a face amount of P252.51 billion; five-year debt paper, P316.78 billion; seven-year IOUs, P594.23 billion, and 10-year treasury bonds, P648.74 billion.

The outstanding amount for 10-year agrarian reform bonds was P7.94 billion; 20-year IOUs, P420.33 billion, and 25-year debt paper, P235.98 billion.For the $6.582-million Philippine par bond redenominated into 28.5 years, the outstanding amount was P97.05 million.

Also outstanding were P2.19 trillion in retail treasury bonds; P1.03-trillion benchmark bonds; P50 billion in 25-year Central Bank-Board of Liquidators T-bonds; P24.04-billion onshore dollar T-bond; as well as P6.56 billion in one-year “premyo” bonds.

Since the domestic debt market remained awash in cash despite a pandemic-induced recession, the government had programmed to borrow a gross amount of P2.58 trillion from local sources this year, accounting for the bulk of the P3.03-trillion borrowings intended for 2021.