The national government’s net financing dropped by 67 percent in January this year, data from the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) showed.
BTr's latest cash operations report showed that total borrowings in the first month of the year amounted to P118.4 billion, down from the P366 billion recorded in the same month last year.
The bulk of this financing, amounting to P141.367 billion, was for domestic fund sources through the regular Treasury bond (T-bond) and Treasury bills (T-bills) auction. It is lower than the P186.705 billion programmed for domestic sources in the same month of 2022.
During the month, T-bills totaled P11.505 billion while fixed-rate T-bonds stood at P130 billion.
On the other hand, around P138,000 was sourced from the bond sinking fund for amortization.
Meanwhile, external net financing declined to P22.9 billion in January from P186.7 billion in the same month in 2022 as the government spent it for payments at P84 billion.
Most of it was for project loans estimated at around P5.3 billion and program loans of P56.2 billion.
For this year, the national government has set its borrowing plan at P2.46 trillion, some P253 billion more than last year’s P2.207 trillion gross borrowing plan, based on state budget documents.
It will borrow P1.853 trillion next year from the domestic market by selling T-bills and T-bonds.
The Treasury will tender a total of P51.050 billion worth of T-bills and P1.802 trillion worth of T-bonds for this year.
The remaining P606.850 billion will be secured by the national government from abroad through program loans (P295.845 billion), project loans (P36.005 billion), and bonds and other inflows (P275 billion).
As of January, the government’s outstanding debt rose in January by 1.9 percent month-on-month to P14.79 trillion due to a weak peso and after the state borrowed more from local creditors than what it paid for its maturing liabilities.