Incoming Aquino government needs to borrow P7B

The new borrowings will be on top of the government’s 2010 domestic borrowing program of P321.898 billion. Finance Secretary Margarito Teves said Thursday that the amount would have to be added to the borrowing program after the GDP forecast was raised to P8.351 trillion. While government revenues will rise with faster economic expansion, so will disbursements that the budget deficit can widen over P300 billion and trigger a possible credit downgrade for the country, according to senior finance officials. Treasury chief Roberto Tan, however, said the additional borrowings do not necessarily have to be P7 billion and that P5 billion will do. Teves entertained the likelihood of borrowing overseas, but Tan told reporters Thursday the amount could be raised from domestic sources. Senior officials, who declined to be named, said the January-April deficit totaled P131.6 billion, with the government posting a P2.6 billion surplus April. —VS, GMANews.TV