By Aubrey Rose A. Inosante, Reporter
THE NATIONAL GOVERNMENT’S (NG) gross borrowings slipped by 12% in July as the decline in domestic issuances were partly offset by a sharp rise in foreign borrowings, the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) reported.
Data from the BTr showed that total gross borrowings fell by 11.96% to P166.11 billion in July from P188.67 billion in the same month a year ago.
Month on month, gross borrowings declined by 37.08% from P263.99 billion in June.
Gross domestic borrowings went down by 15.54% to P152.54 billion in July from P180.6 billion in the same month last year. This accounted for 91.83% of the total gross borrowings in July.
Broken down, domestic borrowings included P125 billion in fixed-rate Treasury bonds and P27.54 billion in Treasury bills.
On the other hand, gross external borrowings surged by 68.26% to P13.57 billion in July from P8.06 billion in the previous year. This consisted of project loans.
Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. Chief Economist Michael L. Ricafort said the total gross borrowings in July was due to a narrowing budget deficit, which reduced the need for additional borrowings.
Data from the BTr showed that the budget gap shrank by 34.42% to P18.9 billion in July. For the seven-month period, the budget deficit widened to P784.4 billion.
“(This) may reflect a combination of frontloaded issuances in earlier months, the election-related spending pause, and a deliberate pacing to manage debt servicing costs amid high interest rates,” John Paolo R. Rivera, a senior research fellow at the Philippine Institute for Development Studies, said in a Viber message.
END-JULY BORROWINGMeanwhile, NG’s gross borrowings dipped by 0.09% to P1.758 trillion in the January-to-July period from P1.759 trillion a year ago.
Domestic debt accounted for the bulk or 76.34% of total gross borrowings in the first seven months.
Gross domestic debt slid by 9.57% to P1.34 trillion as of end-July from P1.48 trillion in the same period last year.
This was composed of P881.84 billion in fixed-rate Treasury bonds, P300 billion in fixed-rate Treasury notes and P159.85 billion in Treasury bills.
As of end-July, gross external debt stood at P415.92 billion, up 50.98% from P275.48 billion a year ago.
These consisted of P191.97 billion in global bonds, P171.31 billion in program loans and P52.65 billion in project loans.
Analysts expect higher government borrowings in the second half amid ramped up spending and maturing government securities.
“We can still expect higher borrowings in the latter part of the year, especially as NG ramps up spending to hit growth targets and if revenue collections fall short,” Mr. Rivera said.
In the following months, Mr. Ricafort said the NG borrowings would likely increase to reflect the retail Treasury Bond (RTB) issuance in August.
The BTr earlier announced that the government sold P507.16 billion worth RTBs, exceeding the P30-billion target. The public offer period ran from Aug. 5 to 15, while settlement is on Aug. 20.
Mr. Ricafort said the government is also scheduled to settle the P288.66-billion Treasury maturity on Sept. 9.
This year’s financing program is set at P2.6 trillion, of which P2.11 trillion will be from local lenders and P488.17 billion from foreign sources.