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Government lending quadrupled last month following the issuance of retail bonds aimed at small investors, although foreign lending declined significantly, Treasury data showed.
According to the data, the Duterte administration’s gross financing increased by 314 percent to P124.04 billion in November this year from P29.97 billion in the same month of 2019.
Most of the loans were made nationally at P114.83 billion, a significant increase compared to just P8.06 billion a year ago.
Of the total local loans, the sale of retail treasury bonds (RTB) cornered P69.83 billion, while the balance P45 billion corresponded to short-term notes or Treasury bills (T-bills).
External loans, however, fell 58 percent during the month to P9.2 billion from P21.91 billion in the prior year.
External financing in November consisted entirely of concessional loans for projects by multilateral credit institutions, Treasury data showed.
Meanwhile, government lending in the first 11 months of the year increased 210 percent year-on-year mainly due to requirements to address the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic.
Total indebtedness stood at a record P3.047 trillion at the end of November 2020, well above the P981.9 billion recorded in the same period last year.
Most of the financing corresponds to those of local origin, with a gross amount of P2.46 billion, while the balance of P582.63 billion corresponds to external financing.
Economic managers have established a loan program of $ 3 trillion each for this year and next, and national fundraising accounts for most of the 75 percent through the issuance of Treasury bonds ), Treasury bills and RTB, among others.
In October, the national government debt had passed the $ 10 trillion mark amid unprecedented lending for the coronavirus response.
Total outstanding debt reached P10.028 trillion in October, an increase of 26.8 percent compared to P7.906 trillion in the same period last year.
Actual government debt at the end of October is just 1.3 percent short of hitting the Duterte administration’s P10.16 trillion target for 2020.
Since January, the Duterte administration has added P1.949 trillion to the total domestic debt stock and P658.810 million in October alone.
The government needed to borrow to cover its growing budget deficit in 2020 due to declining revenues caused by the economic recession.
The Philippines is in recession this year after its economy slipped 11.5 percent in the third quarter, 16.9 percent in the second quarter and 0.7 percent in the first. In the first three quarters of the year, the country’s gross domestic product contracted 10 percent.
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