NG gross borrowings down 7% in March

GROSS borrowings by the national government (NG) declined in March with less external debt availed, data from the Bureau of the Treasury showed.

In its latest cash operations report, the Treasury said gross borrowings dropped by 7.15 percent to P192.45 billion in March from P207.27 billion a year earlier.

The figure was also lower than the P399.6 billion recorded in February this year.

Year-to-date, gross borrowings amounted to P745.14 billion, markedly lower than the P830.39 billion recorded in the same period last year.

Domestic debt in March inched up by 0.9 percent — to P157.8 billion from P156.4 billion a year earlier — and was also higher than the P140.8 billion recorded in the previous month.

Foreign borrowings in March, meanwhile, were markedly lower at P34.65 billion from the P50.87 billion recorded a year earlier. But month on month, foreign borrowings were higher at P198.75 billion.

The bulk of domestic borrowings, or P132.4 billion, came from the issuance of fixed-rate Treasury bonds, with another P25.4 billion raised from T-bills.

Program loans accounted for most of the foreign borrowings for the month at P28.91 billion, with another P5.74 billion raised from project loans.

Debt financing for the first three months of 2025 totaled P644.12 billion, lower than the P736.58 billion recorded in the same period last year.

The national government's outstanding debt climbed to a new record of P16.63 trillion in February as a result of fresh domestic and external borrowings.

A total of P580.73 billion was added to the tally from December 2024's P16.05 trillion, and the count was also P1.45 trillion higher than the year-earlier level of P15.18 trillion. It was also up P319.26 billion from January's P16.31 trillion.

Of the total debt stock, 32.5 percent was borrowed abroad while 67.5 percent was sourced domestically.

Domestic debt hit P11.22 trillion as of end-February, higher than the P11.08 trillion recorded in January this year and the P10.58 trillion logged in February 2024.

External debt totaled P5.41 trillion as of end-February 2025, up 3.44 percent or P179.64 billion higher compared to P5.23 trillion as of end-January this year.