THE national government reported gross borrowings of P764.23 billion from January to February this year, jumping by 30.7 percent from P584.57 billion in the same period last year.
Based on Bureau of the Treasury data, domestic borrowings comprised the bulk of the amount during the two-month period.
Gross domestic borrowings as of end-February this year reached P717.96 billion, soaring by 60.6 percent from last year’s P446.93 billion. Accounting for the lion’s share of the amount from January to February this year was the P540-billion short-term borrowing from Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas. The rest was sourced from Treasury Bonds (P120 billion) and Treasury Bills (P57.96 billion).
Gross external borrowings for the same two-month period, meanwhile, plunged by 66.4 percent to P46.27 billion compared to last year’s P137.64 billion.
Data showed program loans this year so far stood at P33.42 billion while P12.85 billion came from a project loan.
For February alone, gross borrowings dropped to P53.91 billion this year, significantly lower by 88.75 percent than P479.25 billion in the same month a year ago.
Broken down, gross domestic borrowings for the month hit P37.2 billion while P16.72 billion went to gross external borrowings.
Last month, the Treasury reported that government’s gross borrowings for January rose to P710.32 billion, rising more than six-fold from P105.32 billion in the same month last year.
For this year, the national government programmed to borrow around P3 trillion this year, almost the same amount it programmed to borrow in 2020.
The government has since ramped up its borrowing plan to finance the expected higher budget deficit and to boost its war chest against the pandemic.
Government expects this year’s budget deficit to widen further to P1.78 trillion or 8.9 percent of GDP
as expenditures are still expected to outpace revenues.
Last year, full-year budget deficit soared to a new record-high at P1.37 trillion, marking the first time since 1986 that it breached a trillion mark.
Gross borrowings in 2020 soared to P2.74 trillion, nearly triple the P1.016 trillion posted in 2019.
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