THE government will be borrowing more this year than initially planned by economic managers, the Department of Finance (DoF) said on Monday.In a statement detailing Finance Secretary Ralph Recto's accomplishment in his first 100 days in office, the DoF said that the government would continue with a 75:25 borrowing mix "to meet the country's financing requirements of P2.57 trillion this year...."The previous projection, set by the interagency Development Budget Coordination Committee (DBCC), of which Recto is a member, was P2.46 trillion.The borrowing mix remains skewed toward domestic sources, from which the government expects to get P1.93 trillion, with the rest to come from abroad."This prudent debt management strategy will allow the country to effectively mitigate foreign exchange risks, take advantage of ample liquidity in the country's financial system, and support the development of the local debt and capital markets," the DoF said.National Treasurer Sharon Almanza told reporters that the revision was due to an "adjustment in the deficit for 2024 during the 187th DBCC [meeting]."Economic managers in March raised the expected budget shortfall for this year to P1.48 trillion from P1.39 trillion.Recto, in a Viber message, said that "regarding deficit and borrowing, based on the new DBCC forecast, a lower GDP (gross domestic product) will result in lower revenues.""I plan to meet both BIR (Bureau of Internal Revenue) and BoC (Bureau of Customs) soon to discuss revenue targets. If they hit revenue targets then we do not need additional borrowings etc.," he added.Among others, the DBCC lowered this year's economic growth target to 6.0-7.0 percent from 6.5-7.5 percent and raised the revenue projection to P4.27 trillion from P4.23 trillion.The BIR has been tasked to collect P3.05 trillion, while the BoC's target is around P1 trillion.The DoF noted that the government had already raised P584.9 billion in the first quarter from a retail Treasury bond offering, the largest domestic fundraising issue to date.The bonds "allowed ordinary Filipinos to invest in safe and stable sources of passive income while promoting financial literacy and inclusion," it added.
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