MANILA, Philippines — The Marcos administration ramped up its borrowings to P2.3 trillion in the nine months to September this year, using up 89 percent of its crafted financing program for 2024.
Data from the Bureau of the Treasury showed total borrowings as of end-September reached P2.3 trillion, 31.4 percent higher than the P1.75 trillion in the same period last year.
This means that as of the end of the third quarter, the government already used up 89.4 percent of the P2.57-trillion borrowing plan it crafted for the year.
About 78 percent of the borrowings were sourced from local lenders at P1.8 trillion, 34 percent above the P1.34 trillion in end-September last year.
Of that amount, P1.02 trillion came from fixed rate Treasury bonds, six percent above last year’s P965.83 billion, as interest rates start to go down for long-term government securities following monetary policy easing here and abroad, allowing the Treasury to borrow more.
The Marcos administration also issued its third retail T-bonds and raised P584.86 billion in February.
The government also borrowed the remaining P186.92 billion from short-term T-bills. In comparison, the Treasury raised less T-bills last year at P126.85 billion.
In terms of external debt, the Treasury secured P504.45 billion, up 24 percent, from the P405.74 billion from foreign sources during the nine-month period in 2023.
About half of that was from the two rounds of dollar bond issuance in May and September.
In May, the government raised some P115.25 billion from its 10-year and 25-year offers, with coupon rates at 5.25 percent and 5.6 percent, respectively.
A bigger P141 billion was borrowed in September from a triple-tranche global bond issuance.
The country secured $500 million for its 5.5-year tranche with a 4.375 percent yield while it borrowed $1.1 billion for its 10.5-year tenor with a coupon of 4.75 percent.
Its 25-year sustainability bond, on the other hand, fetched an average rate of 5.175 percent and raised another $900 million.
Further, another P173.15 billion was made up of program loans from multilateral institutions. The remaining P75.06 billion was from project loans.
Next year, the Philippines will slightly decrease its borrowing program by a percentage to P2.55 trillion, still in favor of domestic creditors.
Sourcing from the domestic market is part of the administration’s prudent debt management strategy and its initiatives to further develop the domestic capital markets.