Government borrowings surge to P291 billion

MANILA, Philippines — The Marcos administration’s gross borrowings jumped by more than 75 percent in July from the previous year, driven by a surge in domestic borrowing as the government moved to plug the budget gap.

Data from the Bureau of the Treasury showed that the administration increased its gross borrowings by 75.4 percent to P291.38 billion in July from P166.11 billion during the same month in 2025.

Month-on-month, this was nearly 50 percent below the P579.57 billion recorded in June.

In July, the government increased its local borrowings by 77.9 percent to P271.32 billion from P152.54 billion through the sale of Treasury bills (T-bills) and bonds.

Domestic financing in July was made up of P133.2 billion in T-bills, which rose by 383.7 percent from P27.54 billion a year ago, while T-bonds went up by 10.5 percent year-on-year to P138.12 billion.

External borrowings, meanwhile, amounted to P20.05 billion in July, consisting of P18.64 billion in project loans and P1.41 billion in program loans.

For the seven-month period, the government increased its total gross borrowing by 20.2 percent to P2.11 trillion from P1.76 trillion a year ago.

The government grew its local borrowings by 15.4 percent to P1.55 trillion as of end-July, while foreign borrowings pushed up by 35.8 percent to P564.86 billion.

The external borrowing included two global bond issuances in January and June amounting to a combined P314.37 billion.

In June, the government raised $2.5 billion from a triple-tranche sale of dollar-denominated global bonds that drew strong investor demand, marking its second foray in the international debt market this year. This followed a similar issuance that raised $2.75 billion in January.

National Treasurer Sharon Almanza earlier said the government is still looking to issue retail Treasury bonds within the year, awaiting more favorable market conditions.

In 2026, the Marcos administration seeks to borrow P2.73 trillion, of which P1.92 trillion will come from domestic sources and P815.51 billion from external sources.