Government borrowings fall sharply in April

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines posted a sharp drop in gross borrowings in April on the back of a 68-percent decrease in domestic financing, according to the Bureau of the Treasury.

Latest data from the Treasury showed that gross borrowings fell by 66.6 percent to P130.19 billion in April from P390.06 billion in the same month a year earlier, with nearly 94 percent sourced from the domestic market.

Domestic borrowings fell by 68.2 percent to P122.28 billion from P384.71 billion. This included the issuance of P125.02 billion in fixed-rate Treasury bonds, while P2.74 billion came from the sale of Treasury bills.

Meanwhile, the government borrowed P7.91 billion from external sources in April, 48 percent higher than the P5.35 billion offshore financing it had raised in the same month a year ago.

This comprised project loans amounting to P7.76 billion and P151 million in program loans.

Overall, total borrowings slipped to P1.13 trillion in the first four months of the year from P1.14 trillion in the same period last year.

The amount also accounted for 42 percent of the government’s P2.68-trillion borrowing program for 2026, which is needed to plug an estimated budget deficit of P1.61 trillion or 5.3 percent of gross domestic product (GDP).

The year-to-date data also pushed up domestic gross borrowings by 2.1 percent to P853.38 billion, or 41.5 percent of this year’s target domestic financing of P2.05 trillion.