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The national government borrowed less in January this year than in
the same period last year as the government continued to post lower
budget deficit and strong peso against the US dollar, finance data
showed.
Total net financing went down by 6.2 percent in
January to P27.927 billion compared with P29.762 billion in the same
month last year, which means less loan repayments for the period.
Meanwhile, total gross financing dropped by 18.2
percent to P39.663 billion in January this year from P48.789 billion
in the same month last year.
The government has borrowed more domestically,
totaling P21.337 billion in Treasury bills and P17.720 billion in
fixed rate treasury bonds, while lower external borrowings were
incurred in project loans.
Total net domestic borrowings reached P29.523
billion in January this year from a net repayment of P15.326 billion
in the same period last year. It posted total loan payments of
P9.534 billion.
The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas has urged the
Department of Finance to borrow more domestically as peso
strengthens against the greenback to lower dependency in foreign
debt.
For external borrowings, total project loans
amounted to P512 billion, mostly made up of government loans from
International Bank for Reconstruction and Development worth P486
billion. The government also tapped development loans amounting to
P62 billionfrom the Asian Development Bank and P26 billion from the
Overseas Economic Cooperation Fund of Japan (OECF)/Japan Bank for
International Cooperation. It has issued $500 million global bonds
in January this year, lower than last year’s $1 billion in foreign
borrowing.
Total loan payments reached P2.202 billion.
Based on the national financing program,
government borrowing is expected to further decline to P17.7 billion
this year from P94.7 billion last year.
The government reported a budget gap of P13.9
billion in January this year, down 53 percent year-on-year, mainly
as a result of the government sale of Manila Electric Co.
shares.
The government has programmed to balance its
budget this year, which means it will further reduce its borrowing
to support its internal operations.
A balanced budget should also help preserve the
low interest rate environment.
-- Maricel E. Burgonio
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