NG borrowings surge in November

By Aubrey Rose A. Inosante, Reporter

THE NATIONAL Government’s (NG) gross borrowings surged in November amid a sharp rise in domestic and foreign borrowings, the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) said.

Latest data from the Treasury showed that total gross borrowings jumped by 74.55% to P113.53 billion from P65.05 billion in the same month a year ago.

Month on month, gross borrowings rose by 29.3% from P87.81 billion in October.

Domestic borrowings increased by 59.57% to P78 billion in November from P48.88 billion in the same month last year. This accounted for the bulk or 68.7% of the total gross borrowings in November.

Domestic borrowings were mainly composed of P70 billion in fixed-rate Treasury bonds (T-bonds) and P8 billion in Treasury bills (T-bills).

On the other hand, external borrowings, which mainly consisted of project loans, jumped by 119.81% to P35.53 billion in November from P16.17 billion in the previous year.

Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. Chief Economist Michael L. Ricafort said the higher gross borrowings in November were due to the need to plug the budget deficit.

“This could be attributed to the continued NG budget deficit that needs to be financed by NG borrowings/debt, despite lower maturing government bonds in the fourth quarter,” he said in a Viber message.

In the first 11 months of the year, NG’s gross borrowings inched up by 4.07% to P2.6 trillion from P2.49 trillion a year ago.

The 11-month tally made up around 99.85% of the revised P2.6-trillion financing program for 2025.

As of end-November, domestic borrowings made up 81.32% of the total.

Domestic debt went up by 10.42% to P2.11 trillion in the period ending November from P1.91 trillion a year ago.

This accounted for 99.98% of the P2.112-trillion domestic borrowing program for the year.

Domestic debt was composed of P1.19 trillion in fixed-rate T-bonds, P425.61 billion in retail T-bonds, P300 billion fixed-rate Treasury notes, and P192.2 billion in T-bills.

Meanwhile, gross external borrowings stood at P484.89 billion as of end-November, 16.75% down from P582.41 billion a year ago.

This accounted for 99.33% of the P488.174-billion external borrowing program this year.

Broken down, foreign debt included P201.35 billion in program loans, P191.97 billion in global bonds, and P91.57 billion in project loans.

The end‑November external debt reflected the $3.3-billion global bond issuance completed in late January and settled in February.

Mr. Ricafort said there is a seasonal increase in the budget deficit towards the end of the year, which would require more borrowings to finance the widening budget deficit.

The budget deficit shrank by 26.02% year on year to P157.6 billion in November, but still pushed the fiscal gap to P1.26 trillion in the 11-month period.

This represented 80.92% of the revised full-year target of P1.56 trillion for 2025.