GOVERNMENT borrowing declined in August with reduced new borrowing across the board from domestic and external sources, while the existing-debt component saw net redemptions during the month, the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) said.
According to its cash operations report, the BTr said borrowing in August was P73.23 billion, down 43.49% from a year earlier.
Total borrowing in the year to date was P802.504 billion. Of this total, 79.71% was sourced from domestic lenders, or P639.7 billion.
Net domestic borrowing for the month was P29.57 billion, down from P57.93 billion a year earlier.
BTr borrowed P60 billion via the Treasury bond auctions in August while it made P30.33 billion worth of net redemptions of debt owed to domestic creditors during the month.
Amortization amounted to P8.78 billion, P8.68 of which were sourced from the Treasury’s Bond Sinking Fund (BSF).
The government raised P43.67 billion from foreign lenders in August, P45.26 billion of which came from the Samurai bond market while P1.6 billion came from project loans.
This was offset by the P3.19 billion worth of payments made to foreign creditors during the month.
For this year, the government set a 73-27% financing mix favoring domestic sources to shield it from currency fluctuation in the global market.
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
