Govt borrowings hit P1.5T – Dominguez

THE national government has so far borrowed P1.55 trillion from foreign and domestic sources to support the national budget, Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez 3rd said.

During the Kapihan sa Manila Bay forum on Wednesday, Dominguez announced that his department had generated $ 4.83 billion in concessionary budgetary support financing from the Asian Development Bank, the World Bank, the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank and the Development Agency of France.

“Of the total financing accessed, $ 2.26 billion has been disbursed for government programs,” he said.

The government also raised $ 2.35 billion

( about P117.67 billion) from its latest global bond offering.

The Finance chief added that the government also borrowed P1.2 trillion in net domestic borrowings from the beginning of the year to cover its budget deficit.

The government’s year- to- date budget gap already hit P562.2 billion, larger than the P809 million in the first five months of 2019.

The national government’s outstanding debt, meanwhile, rose to a record- high of P8.6 trillion at the end of April.

Dominguez reported that the Department of Budget and Management had so far released allotments of P355.6 billion for the government’s coronavirus pandemic response programs.

“The allotments were charged from the realignment of existing projects, activities and programs, as well as pooled savings from the discontinued programs under the 2019 and 2020 budgets. It also includes the unprogrammed appropriations for the current fiscal year,” he explained.

MAYVELIN U. CARABALLO