Gov’t borrowings decline for 3rd straight month

Gross borrowings of the Marcos administration dropped for the third straight month in May as the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) sharply scaled back domestic debt issuance anew.

According to the BTr’s latest cash operations report, gross borrowings declined 43.8 percent to P108.03 billion in May from P192.31 billion in the same month last year.

This marked the third consecutive month of year-on-year declines, following decreases recorded in March and April, driven by a sustained decline in domestic borrowings.

Domestic borrowings, which still continued to account for the bulk of the government’s financing, plunged 54.3 percent to P80.29 billion from P176.06 billion a year earlier.

This comes as the BTr repaid more Treasury bills than it issued during the month, resulting in a net P8.43-billion repayment, a reversal from the P26.30 billion in net borrowings recorded in May last year. Long-term Treasury bond borrowings also declined sharply to P88.72 billion from P159.76 billion.

Despite the slowdown in domestic fundraising, the government ramped up borrowing from foreign sources. External borrowings surged 344 percent to P27.74 billion.

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Unlike in May 2025, when all external financing came from project loans, the government tapped both project and program loans during the month. Project loans amounted to P12.76 billion, while program loans reached P14.98 billion.

Five-month gross borrowings have now reached P1.24 trillion, representing more than half of the government’s P2.68-trillion borrowing program for 2026.

Borrowings from domestic sources totaled P933.7 billion, while external financing reached P308.2 billion.