Gov’t borrowings down 14.7%

The government’s total borrowings fell 14.7 percent in the first eight months of the year as the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) and the Bureau of Customs (BOC) recovered from their disappointing performance in the first semester.

The Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) reported that the government borrowed a total of P353.59 billion from domestic and foreign creditors from January to August this year.

This is P61.22 billion lower than the P414.81 billion it borrowed in the same period last year, data from the BTr further showed.

As had been programmed, the government borrowed more from the domestic market during the period.

Of the total amount borrowed, the government borrowed from the domestic market a total of P246.71 billion, P1.1 billion lower than the P245.61 billion it borrowed in the same period last year.

The government’s domestic borrowings are done through the issuance of Treasury bills, Treasury bonds, and retail Treasury bonds.

Domestic creditors accounted for almost 70 percent of the total borrowings during the period.

Data showed that the government issued P77.65 billion worth of three- and five-year RTBs last August and exchanged P97.51 billion worth of eligible bonds last April.

Foreign borrowings, meanwhile, dropped 36.8 percent to P106.87 billion from P169.2 billion in the same period last year, accounting for 30 percent of the total borrowings during the period.

Officials said the government is doing its best to manage its borrowings, with the end goal of wiping out the deficit by 2008.

Faced with the problem of a yawning budget deficit, the Department of Finance (DOF) is stepping up efforts to raise collections and boost revenues through the privatization of state-owned assets.

The government hopes to trim the budget deficit to P63 billion this year and wipe this out by 2008 or two years ahead of the original 2010 deadline.