PHL govt borrowings ease P106B in 1st 5 mos.

Government borrowings went down by P106.110 billion in the first five months of the year as authorities eased on fund-raising activities during the period. Latest data from the Department of Finance showed that total borrowings from foreign and local creditor reached only P270.880 billion from January to May. During the period, government tapped the global debt market and was able to raise $1.25 billion (P55 billion) selling peso-denominated global bonds. The recent disasters in Japan, however, prevented the Philippines government from pushing through with its plan to issue Samurai or yen-denominated bonds. Program loans, meanwhile, declined sharply to P1.3 billion in the period from P19.843 billion last year, as project loans from various foreign lenders reached P9.811 billion, down P522 million from year-ago figures. Similarly, gross domestic borrowings experienced a steep decline to P140.086 billion from January to May as the government issued a smaller volume of Treasury bills and bonds. In May, total government borrowings fell to P53.47 billion from P54.13 billion in the same period last year. The Philippine government borrows from the local and foreign markets to finance its budget deficit, which it hopes to reduce to 3.2 percent of the gross domestic product this year. In May, however, government’s fiscal position registered a P9.601-billion deficit, overturning the P26.258 surplus recorded in April. The fiscal results last May brought the January to May deficit to P9.540 billion, narrower than the P162.207-billion deficit posted in the same period last year. —JMT/VS, GMA News