Government borrowings up 46% to P377 billion in January-May

MANILA, Philippines - Total government borrowings went up by P118.4 billion from January to May this year, or 45.79 percent more than the amount it borrowed in the same period last year to plug a widening budget deficit, latest data from the Department of Finance (DOF) showed.

According to the data, gross external borrowings and gross domestic borrowings totaled P376.990 billion during the five-month period, higher than the P258.589 billion it borrowed in the same period last year.

In the first five months of the year, the government tapped the global and Japanese-debt market to plug the budget gap which is now expected to hit a revised P300 billion this year or 3.6 percent of gross domestic product, from P293 billion previously.

The government issued $1.5 billion or P68.511 billion in global bonds in January, the first Southeast Asian country to issue debt for the year.

In February, the government issued another $1.1 billion or P51.743 billion worth of Samurai or yen-denominated bonds.

Program loans, meanwhile, amounted to P19.843 billion, comprising of the P4.493-billion Development Policy Loan from the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC), the P6.740-billion Emergency Budget Support loan also from JBIC and P8.610 billion from the French government.

Project loans from various international lenders such as the Asian Development Bank and the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, meanwhile, amounted to P10.333 billion during the five-month period.