DOMESTIC debt pushed the national government's gross borrowings to P174.03 billion in August, according to data from the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr).

In its latest cash operations report, the bureau said the figures spiked by 40.3 percent from P124.06 billion a year earlier. However, the numbers are lower than the P188.65 billion recorded in July 2024.

Year to date, gross borrowings amounted to P1.93 trillion, 17.4 percent higher than the P1.65 trillion in the same period last year.

Domestic debt accounted for the bulk of August gross borrowings at P167.05 billion, 42.3 percent higher than the previous year's P117.37 billion but lower than July's P180.59 billion.

For the first eight months of the year, domestic debt was at P1.65 trillion.

Foreign borrowings, on the other hand, were slightly up at P6.99 billion from P6.68 billion a year earlier. It is, however, lower than the P8.06 billion recorded in the previous month.

As of end-August, foreign debt totaled P282.46 billion.

The bulk of domestic borrowings worth P140 billion came from fixed-rate Treasury bonds, with another P27.05 billion raised from T-bills.

Project loans, meanwhile, accounted for most of the foreign borrowings for the month at P6.99 billion.

Government financing surged to P162.514 billion for the month, up 36.4 percent from a year earlier P119.12 billion, but lower than July's P186.91 billion.

Financing for the first eight months of 2024 totaled P1.53 trillion, 3.11 percent lower than the P1.58 trillion in the same period last year.

As of end-July, the the national government's outstanding debt hit a new record high of P15.69 trillion.

Of the total debt stock, 31.46 percent was borrowed overseas, while 68.54 percent was sourced domestically.

Domestic debt hit P10.75 trillion, higher than the P10.57 trillion in June and a year earlier P9.8 trillion.

External debt reached P4.94 trillion, 0.5 percent or P26.45 billion higher than the P4.91 trillion in June.

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