Gov’t borrowing surges after global bond issue

GOVERNMENT borrowing rose nearly 400% year on year in February, according to the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr), reflecting the issuance of global bonds in January.

Total government borrowing reached P132.231 billion in February, up 391.42% from a year earlier.

Borrowed funds from foreign sources in February rose sharply to P100.569 billion from only P781 million a year earlier, accounting for about two-thirds of total borrowing.

The government raised $2 billion from a 25-year global bonds sale on Jan. 18 — the first such offer by the new government — which the Treasury carried on its books in the amount of P99.566 billion. Project loans on the other hand hit P1 billion. Meanwhile, domestic borrowing totaled P31.662 billion, up 21.18% from a year earlier.

Some P30 billion was raised from fixed rate treasury bonds (T-bonds) while P1.662 billion was from treasury bills (T-bills).

Month on month, borrowing more than tripled from the P39.127 billion in January.

The two-month tally puts government borrowing at P171.358 billion, up from P68.97 billion in the same first two months last year.

This year, the government plans to borrow P631.29 billion, about 9% less than the 2016 target, according to the Budget Expenditures and Sources of Financing report. —