THE national government's gross borrowings rose to almost P420 billion in February amid a rise in domestic debt, latest Bureau of the Treasury data showed.
Based on the bureau's latest cash operations report, overall borrowings totaled P419.97 billion for the month, up 22.21 percent from P343.62 billion a year earlier. It was also more than double the P203 billion recorded in January of this year.
Year to date, gross borrowings came to P623.12 billion, 12.3 percent lower than the P710.49 billion recorded in the same period last year.
Domestic debt accounted for the bulk of February's gross borrowings at P415.23 billion, 26.7 percent higher than the year-earlier P327.64 billion and almost triple the P141.5 billion in January.
Foreign borrowings, on the other hand, were markedly lower at P4.74 billion from P15.984 billion a year earlier and the P61.646 billion recorded in the first month of 2024.
The bulk of domestic borrowings, or P341.41 billion, came from retail Treasury bonds, with another P60 billion and P13.82 billion raised from fixed rate T-bonds and T-bills.
Project loans, meanwhile, accounted for all foreign borrowings for February.
Government financing rose to P417.63 billion for the month, up 36.8 percent from the year-earlier P305.34 billion. It was more than triple January's P118.47 billion.
Financing for the first two months of 2024 totaled P536.11 billion, 20.1 percent lower than the P671.34 billion recorded in the same period last year.
The national government's outstanding debt hit a new high of P15.18 trillion in February and is now P1.43 trillion more than it was a year earlier.
A total of P388.51 billion was added from January, primarily due to domestic debt issuances that were partially tempered by the effect of the stronger peso on the valuation of foreign debt.
In percentage terms, the debt rose by 2.63 percent from January, 3.85 percent from end-December 2023 and 10.37 percent from a year earlier.
Domestic borrowings comprised the bulk or 69.68 percent of outstanding debt at P10.58 trillion.
External debt accounted for 30.32 percent of total outstanding debt as of end-February, totaling P4.6 trillion.
Read The Rest at :
