THE national government’s gross borrowings settled at P2.78 trillion from January to November 2021, smaller than the previous year’s level.
Latest data from the Bureau of the Treasury showed the government’s gross borrowings for the 11-month period dropped by 8.9 percent from P3.05 trillion recorded in the same period in 2020.
Of the P3.07-trillion programmed gross borrowings for 2021, year-to-date gross borrowings accounted for 90.6 percent.
Gross domestic borrowings as of end-November slid by 8.8 percent year-on-year to P2.25 trillion from P2.46 trillion.
The bulk of the amount was raised through the issuance of Fixed Rate Treasury Bonds at P1.26 trillion while the rest of the amount was sourced through short-term borrowings from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (P540 billion), Retail Treasury Bonds/Premyo Bonds (P463.32 billion), and Retail Onshore Dollar Bonds (P80.84 billion).
There was also a net redemption of P97.3 billion in Treasury Bills. Net debt redemption means there were more debts repaid compared to the amount borrowed during the period.
On the other hand, gross foreign borrowings in the same period stood at P528.81 billion, contracting by 9.4 percent from last year’s P583.64 billion.
This was raised through dollar-denominated global bonds (P146.17 billion), program loans (P139.98 billion), euro-denominated bonds (P121.97 billion), a project loan (P96.5 billion), and yen-denominated samurai bonds (P24.19 billion).
For November alone, the national government’s gross borrowings plunged by 78.5 percent to P26.7 billion from P124.04 billion in the same month in 2020, mainly due to the net redemption of Treasury Bills.
The government borrows to meet its spending requirements as well as to finance its budget deficit.
The national government’s outstanding debt was trimmed to P11.93 trillion as of end-November 2021, but this was still beyond the government’s expected level of P11.73 trillion for the year.
The debt stock dipped by 0.3 percent from P11.97 trillion as of end-October on the back of net redemption of domestic securities and favorable foreign exchange rates.
Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III earlier said the country’s debt-to-GDP ratio is projected to rise to 59.1 percent in 2021 and peak this year at 60.8 percent—slightly above the internationally accepted threshold—before gradually tapering off to 60.7 percent and 59.7 percent in 2023 and 2024.