Government borrowings in April fall 44% from a year ago

MANILA - The Aquino administration last month borrowed more than half what it did a year ago, according to data from the Bureau of Treasury.


The national government’s gross borrowings fell 44.19 percent to P22.37 billion in April from the P40.08 billion in the same month last year. Bulk of the total amount borrowed in April was from the local market at P21.72 billion, with foreign borrowings amounting to only P647 million.


The government borrows money to plug a budget deficit brought about by expenditures outstripping revenues. Last month, the government enjoyed a budget surplus of P31 billion, bringing the deficit to P2.885 billion at end-April, well below the P279 billion cap for the entire year.


Despite last month’s drop in borrowings, the end-April figure of P347.59 billion was still 60 percent higher than the P217.41 billion in the same period in 2011.


This was on account of the P66.04 billion global bond offering the government undertook in January, bringing the total amount of money sourced from abroad at P83.71 billion at end-April, or 34.75 percent below the P128.31 billion incurred in the same four-month period last year.


Apart from foreign commercial borrowings in the form of ROP bonds, the government also tapped foreign donors for a combined P17.68 billion in program and project loans.


With the Treasury settling P18.83 billion worth of foreign debt at end-April, the government’s net external borrowings tallied to P64.89 billion, or 18 percent higher than the P55.02 billion in 2011.


Consistent with its liability management program, the government borrowed more from domestic creditors as new local debt shot up nearly 200 percent to P263.88 billion at end-April from P89.11 billion in the same four-month period last year.


Of the total amount sourced from the local market, P179 million were in the form of retail Treasury bonds issued in March.


The government settled P166.36 billion worth of local debt, thus bringing local net borrowings to P97.52 billion, a reversal of the P85.75 billion in net redemptions made last year. -Interaksyon (May 27, 2012)