Government borrowings at P147 billion in May

MANILA, Philippines — The government accumulated P147 billion in borrowings in May, largely from the domestic market, coming from a net repayment of almost P260 billion in the same period last year.

Data from the Bureau of the Treasury showed that total borrowings in May reached P146.78 billion as compared to the P258.97 billion repayment in May 2022.

In May last year, the government was able to repay more of its obligations than the amount it borrowed during the month.

This came after the outgoing administration paid P300 billion in provisional advances to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP).

Under the law, the BSP can give provisional advances to the government, with or without interest, to finance expenditures listed in the yearly program.

Last May, borrowings from local lenders reached P131.79 billion from a net repayment of P270.68 billion in the same period last year.

A little over 75 percent of the domestic borrowings at P100 billion was from fixed-rate Treasury bonds.

The government borrowed the remaining P31.79 billion from short-term T-bills.

During the same month last year, the government borrowed more T-bonds at P115.21 billion, but managed a net redemption of P85.89 billion in T-bills.

In terms of external debt, the Treasury secured P14.99 billion, up by 28 percent, from foreign sources during the month of May.

Much of the external financing at P9.1 billion was made up of program loans from multilateral institutions. The remaining P5.89 billion was from project loans.

For the five-month period, borrowings climbed by 36 percent to P1.26 trillion from the P924.43 billion sourced in January to May 2022.

As of end-May, domestic borrowings surged by 42 percent to P912.58 billion while offshore financing went up by 23 percent to P343.87 billion.

During the first five months of 2023, the government has already used up 57 percent of the borrowing plan it crafted for the entire year at P2.21 trillion.