Gov’t Borrowing Exceeds ₱1-Trillion Mark

Government borrowing has surpassed the trillion-peso mark in the first four months of the year due to higher financing recorded in April, data from the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) showed.

Photo Insert: Gross borrowing of the Marcos administration rose 28% in April to P129.9 billion from 101.26 billion in the same month last year.

Gross borrowing of the Marcos administration rose 28% in April to P129.9 billion from 101.26 billion in the same month last year, the Treasury bureau reported.

Higher financing during the month caused the government’s four-month total borrowings to hit P1.109 trillion. This sum, however, is still lower compared with P1.183 trillion in the same period last year.

Based on the Treasury data, the government borrowed more domestically in April, amounting to P96.13 billion. This is significantly higher by 45% compared with P66.38 billion a year ago.

Of that amount, P94.47 billion was raised through the sale of long-dated IOUs, while P1.65 billion was borrowed via short-term debt papers. External borrowing, on the other hand, dropped slightly by three percent from P34.88 billion in April 2022 to P33.78 billion.

According to the Treasury, the government tapped P27.56 billion worth of program loans and P6.21 billion of project loans. At end-April, the government’s foreign borrowing stood at P328.88 billion, higher by 23% compared with P267.9 billion in the same period in 2022.

On the other hand, domestic borrowings of the government from January to April declined by 17% from P916.49 billion to P780.78 billion.

Last May 31, the Bureau of the Treasury reported that the national government’s debt stock continued to rise in April, hitting close to the P14-trillion level.

The outstanding debt of the government has risen by nine percent to P13.911 trillion in April from P12.763 trillion in the same month last year. The amount also inched up by 0.4 percent compared with P13.856 trillion last March.

Of the total debt, 68% was domestically borrowed, while the remaining 32% was sourced from overseas lenders. Despite the increasing debt stock in nominal terms, Finance Secretary Benjamin E. Diokno said the government’s outstanding loan obligations as a share of the country’s economy were on a downward trend.

The quarterly debt-to-gross domestic product (GDP) ratio stood at 61.0% as of end-March 2023, down 2.5 percentage points from 63.5% last year.

However, the end-March debt ratio is still above the 60% international threshold deemed by debt watchers as manageable among emerging markets, like the Philippines.

This ratio is also a measure used by many debt watchers to assess the creditworthiness of governments. The national government debt as a proportion of GDP had ballooned after the previous Duterte administration acquired substantial new debt during the coronavirus pandemic.

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