THE national government sharply reduced its gross borrowings in August, with the amount of funds raised from both domestic and external sources plunging by 72.2 percent to P141.27 billion from P508.53 billion a year earlier
It was also 51.5 percent lower than the P291.38 billion posted in July, Bureau of the Treasury data showed.
Gross domestic borrowings, in particular, totaled P127.93 billion, composed entirely of fixed-rate Treasury bonds. The August result was down 74.3 percent from P498.21 billion a year earlier and 52.9 percent lower than the P271.32 billion raised in July.
Gross external borrowings, meanwhile, amounted to P13.34 billion in project, up 29.3 percent from P10.31-billion total in August last year but down 33.5 percent from July’s P20.05 billion.
For the eight months to August, meanwhile, total gross borrowings slipped by 0.5 percent to P2.25 trillion compared to the P2.27 trillion recorded during the same period last year.
Gross external borrowings increased 35.7 percent year on year to P578.20 billion in January-August from P426.23 billion in the comparable 2025 period. It comprised P106.22 billion in project loans, P157.61 billion in program loans and P314.37 billion in global bond proceeds.
Gross domestic borrowings, on the other hand, declined 8.9 percent to P1.68 trillion year to date from P1.84 trillion. This consisted of P393.67 billion in Treasury bills and P1.28 trillion in fixed-rate Treasury bonds.
The national government’s outstanding debt rose to a new record high of P19.39 trillion in July, 1.7 percent higher than June’s P19.07 trillion. Domestic obligations comprised 67.61 percent of the total while external debt accounted for the remainder.
Domestic debt rose to P13.12 trillion, up 2.11 percent from the month-earlier P12.84 trillion. It was also higher than the P12.11 trillion seen a year ago.
External debt, meanwhile, increased by 0.84 percent to P6.28 trillion from P6.23 trillion in June. It was up 15.12 percent from P5.46 trillion a year earlier.
