The national government’s gross borrowings hit P124.03 billion in November, data from the Bureau of Treasury (BoT) showed.

The gross borrowings during the month was up by more than 700 percent from year ago’s P14.34 billion.

During the month, domestic financing amounted to P114.83 billion from P8.06 billion in November 2019.

Local borrowings were sourced through the issuance of P45-billion and P69.83-billion worth of Treasury bills and fixed-rate bonds, respectively.

External financing, meanwhile, also went up by 46 percent to P9.20 billion from P6.28 billion a year ago.

Total external borrowings in October was sourced through project loans.

Year-to-date, the government’s gross borrowings reached P3.04 trillion.

The figure, however, included the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ (BSP) advances that the government paid from a switch program.

In March, the national government and the BSP entered into a repurchase agreement worth P300 billion. The BSP purchased P300 billion worth of government securities from the Bureau of Treasury, which was already settled by the government last September 29.

For full-year 2020, the government plans to borrow P3 trillion from domestic and external sources this year. The amount is 195-percent higher than 2019’s P1.01 trillion.

Gross domestic financing is programmed to reach P2.21 trillion while external borrowings are expected to hit P785.61 billion. The Treasury bureau would raise P48 billion by issuing Treasury bills and P1.67 trillion through fixed-rate Treasury bonds.

It also plans to borrow P500 billion from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas through short-term loans. Of this amount, P300 billion were already disbursed to the bureau through its three-month repurchase agreement signed with the central bank in March.

In terms of foreign financing, the government plans to raise P466.81 billion through program loans, P29.07 billion through project loans, and P289.73 billion through the issuance of bonds as well as from other inflows.

Last year, the government borrowed P1.01 trillion from creditors, a 13.17-percent growth from P897.55 billion in 2018.