Gov't plans P210-billion local borrowings 

The national government aims to borrow P210 billion from the local debt market this month, higher by P15 billion than April’s programmed amount of P195 billion as the state recently increased its borrowing program for 2024, according to a report by BusinessMirror.

The Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) targets to raise P150 billion through the sale of Treasury bonds (T-bonds) and another P60 billion through Treasury bills (T-bills). 

According to the Treasury’s schedule of T-bonds and T-bills offering for the second quarter of the year, P30 billion in T-bonds will be offered on each auction day for all five Tuesdays of the month.

T-bonds with 7-year tenor will be offered on May 2 while 10-year debt papers will be sold on May 9. Apart from these, 15-year, 20-year and 3-year T-bonds will be auctioned off on May 16, May 23, and May 30, respectively.

On the other hand, P15 billion in 91-day, 182-day and 364-day T-bills will be offered for each of the first four Mondays of the month.

The Department of Finance (DOF) said on Monday the national government’s borrowing plan was raised to P2.57 trillion in 2024, higher by 4.47 percent than the P2.46 trillion target set by the Cabinet-level Development Budget Coordination Committee (DBCC). 

National Treasurer Sharon P. Almanza told reporters that the hike in government borrowings was the result of the adjustment in the deficit for 2024 during the 187th DBCC meeting. 

Finance Secretary Ralph G. Recto and the Treasury developed a strategic fundraising plan that will continue to adopt a 75:25 borrowing mix in favor of domestic sources, the DOF said.

Broken down, the government will raise P1.93 trillion from the local debt market and P642 billion from external sources.

“This prudent debt management strategy will allow the country to effectively mitigate foreign exchange risks, take advantage of ample liquidity in the country’s financial system, and support the development of the local debt and capital markets,” the DOF added. 

Latest data from the Treasury showed that the state’s gross borrowings stood at P830.389 billion from January to March this year, the bulk or 85.87 percent went to domestic borrowings, reaching P713.132 billion. The remaining 14.12 percent went to external borrowings at P117.257 billion. 

The total outstanding debt of the national government surged to P15.178 trillion as of end-February this year, up by 10.37 percent year-on-year from P13.752 trillion.

The bulk of the total debt stock is domestic debt at 69.68 percent or P10.576 trillion, while 30.32 percent is external debt at P4.602 trillion.