THE government’s gross borrowings rose to P2.11 trillion in the first seven months of the year as it continued to tap both domestic and foreign sources, latest Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) data showed.
Gross borrowings were up 20.2 percent from the P1.76 trillion recorded in January-July 2025, with domestic borrowings having climbed 15.4 percent to P1.55 trillion from P1.34 trillion and external gross borrowings ballooning by 35.8 percent to P564.86 billion from P415.92 billion.
Treasury bill issuances accounted for P390.90 billion of local borrowings while fixed-rate Treasury bonds made up the bulk at P1.16 trillion.
External borrowings, meanwhile, included P92.88 billion in project loans and P157.61 billion in program loans.
In July alone, total gross borrowings fell to P291.38 billion from P579.57 billion a month earlier, but were higher than the P166.11 billion seen in July last year.
The drop was largely due to a sharp reduction in external borrowings, which plunged to P20.05 billion from P236.59 billion in June.
The decline followed the government’s large global bond issuance in June. No global bond issuance was recorded in July, with external borrowings instead consisting of P18.64 billion in project loans and P1.41 billion in program loans.
Domestic gross borrowings also eased month-on-month, falling to P271.32 billion from P342.98 billion in June.
The national government’s outstanding debt climbed to a new record high of P19.07 trillion in June, surpassing the P19.06-trillion projection for 2026.
The debt stock rose by P518.98 billion, or 2.8 percent, from P18.55 trillion at the end of May. It was also 7.67 percent up from the P17.71 trillion seen in 2025 while year-on-year it increased by 10.41 percent from P17.27 trillion.
Domestic obligations comprised 67.33 percent of the total while external debt accounted for the remainder.
Domestic debt rose to P12.84 trillion, up 2.74 percent from the month-earlier P12.5 trillion. It was 7.43 percent higher than the year ago P11.95 trillion.
External debt, meanwhile, rose by 2.92 percent to P6.23 trillion from May’s P6.05 trillion and was 17.13 percent higher than June 2025’s P5.32 trillion.
