Government hikes borrowings to P213 billion in January

MANILA, Philippines — The Marcos administration slightly increased its borrowings by five percent to P213 billion at the onset of the new year, largely from domestic creditors.

Data from the Bureau of the Treasury showed that borrowings at the start of 2025 picked up by 4.9 percent to P213.14 billion from P203.15 billion obligations in January 2024.

The increase in financing was largely due to the eight percent jump in borrowings from local lenders to P152.2 billion from P141.51 billion in the comparative period in 2024.

Local borrowings made up the bulk or 71 percent of the total financing in January.

These largely came from fixed-rate Treasury bonds at P140 billion, up eight percent, as well as P12.2 billion in short-term T-bills, which rose six percent from last year’s P11.51 billion.

In terms of external financing, the government borrowed P60.94 billion, just 1.1 percent lower from the P61.65 billion secured in the same period last year.

Of the foreign borrowings, 92 percent or P56.29 billion was sourced from multilateral institutions via program loans.

The remaining P4.65 billion was made up of project loans.

The Philippines raised $3.3 billion from the issuance of dollar and euro-denominated sustainability bonds last Jan. 24.

However, the transaction was settled on Feb. 4 and was not included in the actual financing for January.