MANILA, Philippines — Government financing surged by 47.4 percent to P50.27 billion in October from P34.1 billion a year ago as the country continued to borrow more from domestic and foreign sources to fill in the funding gap, according to the Bureau of Treasury.
Gross domestic financing through the issuance of Treasury bills and bonds went up by 47.2 percent to P47.53 billion in October from P32.92 billion a year ago, while gross external borrowings via project and program loans from multilateral lenders surged by 51.6 percent to P2.74 billion from P1.81 billion.
During the month, the government paid P3.91 billion in foreign obligations and P564 million in domestic debt.
Higher borrowings mean the government needs to shell out more to pay its foreign and domestic obligations in the future.
For the January to October period, data showed the national government borrowed P967.55 billion, 34.9 percent higher than the P717.35 billion recorded in the same period last year.
The Treasury said gross domestic financing jumped by 56.2 percent to P673.8 billion during the 10-month period from a year-ago level of P431.29, while gross external borrowings inched up by 2.7 percent to P293.75 billion from P286.05 billion.
Last year, the government borrowed P897.55 billion from creditors, a 0.4-percent decrease from P901.67 billion in 2017.
The government borrows heavily from both domestic and external creditors as the amount it raises is not enough to finance its expenditures.
Latest data showed the national government’s outstanding debt slightly declined to P7.906 trillion as of October from P7.908 trillion in September due to the appreciation of the peso, which reduced the value of offshore obligations.
Since the start of the year, the government’s debt stock has increased by 8.41 percent from the end-2018 level of P7.29 trillion, while a 10.31 percent growth was registered compared to the end-October 2018 level of P7.167 trillion.
The bulk or 67.1 percent of the total debt stock as of end-October at P5.31 trillion came from domestic lenders, while the remaining 32.9 percent or P2.6 trillion are from external creditors.
The Department of Budget and Management said it expects the government to book a lower-than-expected budget deficit this year despite the spending catch-up plan arising from the delayed implementation of the 2019 national budget.