Gov’t borrowing declines sharply in September

GOVERNMENT borrowing in September fell 58.48% from a year earlier to P42.5 billion, due to a strong year-earlier base and in the absence of Retail Treasury Bond (RTB) issues, the Treasury bureau said in a statement.

In August, it borrowed P61.31 billion.

Domestic borrowing in September fell to P37 billion from P100.04 billion a year earlier, as no RTBs were issued. The year-earlier debt issues consisted of retail government securities.

In September, Treasury bills accounted for P7 billion and Treasury bonds P30 billion.

Financing from external sources on the other hand grew to P5.5 billion, against P2.31 billion a year earlier.

Program loans accounted for P4.43 billion of foreign borrowing, while project loans totaled P1.07 billion.

A year earlier program loans totaled P2.68 billion and project loans P909 million.

In the nine months to September, borrowing rose 34.14% to P623.78 billion, or about 85.71% of the upwardly-adjusted budget for gross borrowing this year.

The government borrows funds to finance its fiscal deficit, which the authorities seek to maintain at about 3% of gross domestic product, or P478.1 billion, until 2022. —