Gross government borrowings dropped year-on-year on the back of a decline in domestic liabilities, the Bureau of Treasury said over the weekend.

Based on preliminary BTr data, gross borrowings stood at P118.474 billion in January, 67 percent lower than the P366.005 billion seen in the same period last year.

In January, total debt reached P141.505 billion, down by 21.07 percent.

Fixed-rate Treasury bonds accounted for P130.000 trillion of domestic debt, followed by Treasury bills (P11.505 billion).

P56-B program loans

Meanwhile, gross external debt slipped by 67.13 percent year-on-year in January to P61.646 billion from last year’s P187.563 billion.

Of the total foreign borrowings, project loans amounted to P5.348 billion. The rest of the amount was from P56.298 billion in new program loans.

The government takes loans from lenders to cover the difference between its budget and spending.

Funds raised from selling bonds will be used to support the budget.

Earlier this month, BTr said the government’s total debt increased year-on-year to P14.79 trillion in January this year from P13.698 trillion in January 2023 due to the depreciating peso.

Finance Secretary Ralph Recto also recently said that the Marcos administration intends to borrow a combined amount of P2.46 trillion from both domestic and international creditors this year. This borrowing is aimed at covering an anticipated budget deficit of P1.4 trillion.