THE Marcos Jr. adminis-tration’s gross borrowings in the first half rose by nearly a third on an annual basis to over P1.3 trillion on the back of higher external and domestic borrowings.
Latest Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) data showed that the state has borrowed a gross total of P1.326 trillion during the six-month period, about 29.84 percent higher than the P1.02 trillion it recorded in the same period of last year.
The nearly 30-percent increase in borrowings was driven by the double-digit growth rate in the national government’s external and domestic borrowings.
The national government’s total gross borrowings from January to June is already 60 percent of its full-year programmed borrowing amount of P2.207 trillion this year.
Treasury data showed gross external borrowings reached P366.441 billion during the reference period, about 11.26 percent higher than the P329.336 billion recorded amount in the first half of last year.
The increase in external borrowings was caused by the P163.607 billion dollar-denominated multi-tranche global bonds sold by the state in January.
Likewise, the state’s external borrowings through project loans and program loans rose on a year-on-year basis.
Treasury data showed that project loans expanded by 23 percent to P57.775 billion, while program loans increased by 6.19 percent to P145.059 billion.
Locally, the national government borrowed a total gross amount of P1.056 trillion from the domestic market during the January-to-June period. The amount was 42.52 percent higher than the P741.263 billion it borrowed domestically last year.
The increase in domestic borrowings was driven by higher fixed rate treasury bonds (T-bonds) sold by the Treasury during the six-month period.
Treasury data showed T-bonds sold from January to June reached P686.150 billion, 28.16 percent higher than the P535.382 billion recorded amount in the same period of last year.
T-bills
Meanwhile, Treasury data showed that the amount borrowed by the national government through T-bills reached P86.584 billion.
The national government also raised P283.763 billion in retail T-bonds, 38 percent lower than the P457.799 billion recorded amount last year, according to Treasury data.
The national government has programmed to borrow P553.5 billion externally and P1.653 billion internally this year. Bulk of the national government’s total gross borrowings this year would come from T-bonds at nearly P1.6 billion.