(PNA file photo)
MANILA – The national government's gross borrowings went up by 13.8 percent in June, data from the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) showed.
BTr's latest cash operations report showed that gross borrowings during the sixth month amounted to PHP166.4 billion, up from the PHP146.1 billion recorded in the same month last year.
Domestic debt which accounted for more than 80 percent of the total gross borrowings, increased to PHP143.9 billion from PHP96.4 billion in June 2022.
External borrowings meanwhile declined by 54 percent from PHP49.7 billion in June 2022 to PHP22.5 billion in June this year.
Gross borrowings amounted to PHP1.4 trillion was recorded during the first semester.
Broken down, external borrowings reached PHP366.4 billion while domestic borrowings stood at PHP1.05 trillion.
The Department of Budget and Management (DBM) earlier said that government borrowings are okay as long as these are spent for productive use.
Budget Secretary Amenah Pangandaman earlier explained that the government's debt-to-gross domestic product (GDP) significantly increased at the height of the pandemic as the government needed to borrow more to finance the health sector.
"We are trying to lower our debt as a percentage of GDP and our deficit. There is a deficit because you have insufficient revenue and the balance will come from borrowings. So, it's all interconnected,” Pangandaman said.
The government's Medium-Term Fiscal Framework serves as its blueprint to bring down the country’s debt-to-GDP ratio from 60.9 percent in 2022 and to less than 60 percent by 2025. (PNA)
