June borrowing up 224.87% year-on-year

MANILA -- Borrowings by the Philippine government surged to PHP153.291 billion in June 2018 due to the issuance of retail treasury bonds (RTB).

Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) data showed that last June’s borrowing is 224.87 percent higher than the P47.185 billion in June 2017, and is more than thrice the previous month’s P50.509 billion financing.

Of the total, domestic borrowing accounted for the bulk at PHP154.409 billion, up by more than three times compared to the P48.749 billion in June 2017.

BTr issued a total of PHP121.8 billion-worth of three-year RTBs last June. The other forms of government borrowing are through the issuance of Treasury bond (T-bond) and Treasury bill (T-bill).

Last May, domestic borrowing totaled P55.324 billion.

National Treasurer Rosalia De Leon on Monday said RTB is a normal feature of the government’s borrowing program to allow small investors to avail of the state’s securities issuances.

She said they are considering selling RTBs online and not just through the banks so that Filipinos overseas can directly take part on it.

RTBs are securities that people can avail of through a minimum investment of P5,000.

Meanwhile, the government redeemed a total of P1.118 billion foreign debt last June, lower than the P1.564 billion redemption same period last year and the P4.815 billion redemption last May.

The government is prepaying some of its foreign debt to take advantage of lower rates to realize some savings. (PNA)