NG borrowings hit P3.22T
The higher NG borrowing could be owed to the government’s higher financing needs for its programs and measures to curb the pandemic
The national government’s ( NG) borrowing position for the first 10 months of 2020 already exceeded its P3 trillion program for the year.
Data from the Bureau of Treasury ( BTr) shows that the NG loaned a total of P3.22 trillion from January to October 2020, notably higher than the registered P967.55 billion in the same period year- ago.
Domestic sources comprised the bulk of the overall stock with P2.64 trillion, while P574.43 billion were borrowed from external sources.
For the month of October alone,NG borrowings stood P717.21 billion, P639.04 billion of which came from local sources, while the remaining P24.16 billion was sourced externally.
The higher NG borrowing could be owed to the government’s higher financing needs for its programs and measures to curb the pandemic.
Repo agreement
The BTr entered in a reverse repurchase ( repo) agreement with the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas ( BSP) in March to beef up the NG’s war chest against the pandemic.
Following the repayment of the P300 billion repo to the BSP, monetary authorities granted another P540 billion to the NG to further support its funding needs.
Still, the BTr went on a full award streak with its IOU issues as rates continue to improve amid a benign inflation environment and adequately liquid market.
The government’s top economic officials earlier said the country has the capacity to incur higher debt given its strong macroeconomic fundamentals, which placed it in a better position in battling the health crisis.