GROSS borrowings more than tripled in the first quarter this year on the back of higher domestic borrowings, according to data released by the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr).
The data showed that gross borrowings grew 303.84 percent to P582.07 billion in the January-to-March period from P144.13 billion in the same period in 2018.
Gross domestic borrowings surged 699.63 percent to P490.27 billion in the first quarter of the year from P63.31 billion in the same period last year.
Domestic borrowings from retail Treasury bonds (RTBs) reached P235.83 billion, while Treasury bills (T-bills) reached P113.28 billion in the January-to-March period this year.
In 2018, there were no RTBs secured during the January-to-March period while T-bills reached P18 billion in the first three months of the year.
External gross borrowings, meanwhile, grew 10.84 percent to P91.795 billion in the January-to-March period this year, from P82.82 billion in the same period in 2018.
Data showed that project loans reached P6.6 billion while program loans hit P48.34 billion in the first three months of the year.
The government also issued global bonds amounting to P78.04 billion in the January-to-March period of this year.
Last year, project loans reached P8.3 billion while program loans only reached P21.44 billion in the first quarter.
Further, panda bonds reached P11.97 billion and global bonds P102.68 billion in the first quarter of 2018.