GOVERNMENT borrowing rose 58% year-on-year in October to P45.79 billion, driven by more domestic borrowing that month, the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) said.
According to the cash operations report, the government borrowed a net P46.96 billion from domestic creditors in October, up 48.79% from a year earlier.
The P70 billion the BTr raised by issuing fixed-rate Treasury bonds (T-bonds) were offset by the redemption of Treasury bills worth P22.47 billion, as well as net amortizations of P564 million.
Meanwhile, external borrowing amounted to P2.74 billion in October, up 51.38% from a year earlier.
The month’s borrowing was offset by the P3.91 billion loan payments made by the Treasury.
Total borrowing hit P843.48 billion in the 10 months to October.
Of which, 79.69% or P672.22 billion were from domestic lenders while the remaining 20.3% or P171.26 billion were sourced from foreign creditors.
This year, the government set a 73-27% financing mix favoring domestic sources to shield it from currency fluctuations in foreign borrowing.
The government is looking to raise P1.189 trillion this year from domestic and foreign sources to fund its budget deficit, which is expected to widen to as much as 3.2% of gross domestic product. — Beatrice M. Laforga
