THE national government sharply increased its borrowings in January, data from the Bureau of the Treasury showed.
Gross borrowings reached P408.23 billion, nearly double the P213.14 billion recorded a year earlier and significantly higher than the P57.46 billion logged in December 2025.
The increase reflected strong funding activity involving both foreign and domestic sources.
Gross external borrowings rose to P192.13 billion, more than triple the P60.94 billion recorded in January 2025 and higher than the P58.36 billion raised in December.
External borrowings were largely composed of global bond issuances, which accounted for P161.29 billion, plus P26.39 billion in program loans and P4.46 billion in project loans.
Domestic borrowings also increased with gross domestic debt reaching P216.10 billion. This was higher than the P152.20 billion raised in January 2025 and a sharp turnaround from December 2025.
Of the total, P176.60 billion came from fixed-rate Treasury bonds, while P39.50 billion was sourced from Treasury bills.
The government’s total financing rose to P398.38 billion, up from P211.07 billion in January 2025.
Last year, the government’s gross borrowings rose to P2.653 trillion, from P2.565 trillion a year earlier, and were also higher than the P2.6-trillion financing requirement for the year.
The government is planning to borrow P2.68 trillion in 2026 to finance its programs and projects, slightly up from the P2.6 trillion last year. Most will come from domestic sources at P2.05 trillion, lower than the P2.11 trillion programmed for 2025.
The remaining P627.1 billion will come from external sources, up from 2025’s P488.17 billion, via program loans (P263.3 billion), project loans (P61.7 billion) and bonds and other inflows (P302.1 billion).
