By means of Aubrey Rose A. Inosante, Reporter
National government (NG) gross borrowings fell in November due to lower issuance of domestic debt, the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) said.
BTR data showed that total gross loans fell 48% to P65.05 billion in November from P125.46 billion in the same month a year ago.
Month-on-month, gross loans fell 50% from P129.26 billion in October.
Gross domestic loans fell 60% to P48.88 billion in November from P121.02 billion a year ago.
This included P30 billion in fixed-rate government bonds (T-bonds) and P18.88 billion in Treasury bills (T-bills). In November, T-bond issuances fell 70% from P100 billion in the same month last year.
On the other hand, gross external debt rose 263.91% to P16.17 billion in November from P4.44 billion a year ago.
This consisted of P8.7 billion project loans and P7.47 billion program loans.
“The year-on-year decline in gross borrowings, despite the broader fiscal deficit figures for the month, can largely be attributed to the lower amount of maturing government debt/government securities for the month, which reduces the cost of servicing the NG debts fell fundamentally, especially on principal payments and made fewer NG loans necessary,”
Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. chief economist Michael L. Ricafort said in a Viber message.
In the period January to November, BTR data showed that gross loans increased by 18.73% to €2.49 trillion, compared to €2.1 trillion in the same period last year.
The largest portion, or 76.65%, of gross eleven-month loans came from domestic sources.
Domestic debt rose 17% to P1.91 trillion in the 11-month period from P1.64 trillion a year ago.
Broken down, fixed-rate T-bonds amounted to P1.1 trillion, P584.86 billion in retail T-bonds and P228.26 billion in government bonds.
Meanwhile, external debt rose 24.4% to P582.41 billion in the first eleven months, compared to P460.75 billion a year earlier.
This consisted of P256.24 billion in global bonds, P223.04 billion in program loans and P86.97 billion in new project loans.
This year’s borrowing plan is set at P2.57 trillion, with P1.92 trillion coming from domestic sources and P646.08 billion from abroad, according to the latest data from the Budget of Expenditures and Sources of Financing.
Treasury Secretary Ralph G. Recto said earlier that the government plans to issue U.S. dollar- or euro-denominated bonds in the first half of 2025. The aim is to raise at least 300 billion euros with the issue.
Mr Ricafort said government bond (GS) yields were expected to have been lower in December “given the holiday period.”
This will be the case “until GS maturities increase around April 2025,” he said.