THE national government's gross borrowings dropped to almost P90 billion in April as foreign debt plunged, latest Bureau of the Treasury data showed.
Based on the bureau's latest cash operations report, overall borrowings totaled P89.20 billion for the month, down 31.3 percent from P129.91 billion a year earlier. It also dropped from the P207.27 billion recorded in March of this year.
Year-to-date, gross borrowings came in at P1.16 trillion, 7.9 percent higher than the P1.08 trillion recorded in the same period last year.
Domestic debt accounted for the bulk of April's gross borrowings at P82.36 billion, 14.3 percent lower than the year-earlier P96.13 billion but significantly down from the P156.4 billion in March.
For the first four months of the year, domestic debt was recorded at P1.04 trillion.
Foreign borrowings, on the other hand, were significantly lower at P6.84 billion from P33.78 billion a year earlier. It is also lower than the P50.87 billion recorded in the previous month.
In the first quarter, foreign debt totaled at P124.10 billion.
The bulk of domestic borrowings, or P67.26 billion, came from fixed rate Treasury bonds, with another P15.10 billion raised from T-bills.
Project loans, meanwhile, accounted for most of the foreign borrowings for the month at P6.84 billion.
Government financing dropped to P50.1 billion for the month, down 60 percent from the year-earlier P125.23 billion. It was also down almost four times from March's P200.46 billion.
Financing for the first four months of 2024 totaled P786.68 billion, 23.3 percent lower than the P1.03 trillion recorded in the same period last year.
As of end-March, the national government's outstanding debt fell to P14.93 trillion, snapping a five-month run of record highs.
It fell from February's P15.18 trillion but was still higher than the year-earlier P13.9 trillion, which is due to the net redemption of domestic government securities.
Of the total debt stock, domestic borrowings comprised the bulk, or 68.86 percent, at P10.28 trillion. It was 2.83 percent lower compared to February's P10.58 trillion.
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