National government (NG) gross borrowing declined in October amid a decline in foreign debt, according to the Treasury Bureau. Said.
Total gross borrowing fell 32.07% to P87.81 billion in October from P129.26 billion in the same month a year earlier, Treasury data showed.
Month-on-month, gross borrowings declined 31.89% from P128.91 billion in September.
Household borrowing, which formed the bulk of total borrowing or 83.19%, increased by 8.28% to P73.05 billion in October from P67.46 billion in the same month last year.
This included P70 billion in fixed-rate treasury bonds (T-bonds) and P3.05 billion in treasury bills (T-bills). There were no fixed-rate Treasury notes and retail Treasury bonds for the month.
External borrowings, on the other hand, declined by 76.12% to P14.76 billion in 2024 from P61.8 billion in the same month. This includes project loans.
Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. chief economist Michael L. “(Lower gross borrowing) is consistent with a larger budget surplus in October 2025 than a year ago, which fundamentally reduces the need for more NG borrowing,” Ricafort said in a Viber message over the weekend.
In October, Ng's fiscal position stood at a P11.2 billion surplus as revenues and expenditures declined amid the corruption scandal. This brought the budget deficit to P1.11 trillion over a 10-month period.
This was the first budget surplus since April and a turnaround from the P248.08 billion deficit in September.
Despite the October borrowing decline, the NG's gross borrowing rose 2.19% in the first 10 months of the year to P2.48 trillion from P2.43 trillion a year earlier.
The 10-month number was 95.5% of the revised P2.6-trillion financing program for 2025.
By the end of October, household borrowing stood at 81.9% of the total.
Household debt rose 9.13% to P2.03 trillion in the period ended October from P1.86 trillion a year earlier. This represents 96.29% of this year's P2.11-trillion domestic borrowing program.
Domestic debt was composed of P1.12 trillion in fixed-rate treasury bonds, P425.61 billion in retail treasury bonds, P300 billion in fixed-rate treasury notes, and P184.2 billion in T-bills.
Meanwhile, gross external debt declined 20.64% to P449.35 billion as of end-October from P566.25 billion a year earlier. This was 92.05% of the P488.174-billion external borrowing program this year.
Broken down, the external debt was composed of P191.97 billion in global bonds, P172.01 billion in program loans, and P85.38 billion in project loans.
Foreign debt at the end of October reflected a $3.3 billion global bond issuance that was completed in late January and settled in February.
In the coming months, Mr. Ricafort said the lower volume of government securities maturing in the fourth quarter could reduce the need for additional borrowing.
“Going forward, anti-corruption measures/reforms and other priority governance reforms will help reduce the budget deficit and also reduce the need for additional NG borrowing,” he said.
Mr. Ricafort also said rate cuts by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas and the US Federal Reserve will help reduce interest payments.
As of November 24, Finance Secretary Frederick D. Go said the government had raised P2.08 trillion through a combination of regular treasury bills and treasury bond auctions and special issuances. The government had set a P2.11-trillion domestic issuance program for 2025.
Meanwhile, National Treasurer Sharon P. Almanza said the weaker peso would affect the revaluation of foreign currency-denominated debt.
He said the peso, which hit an all-time low on Nov. 12, could hurt the NG's efforts to reduce its outstanding debt to P17.36 trillion by the end of the year, as forecast. Low foreign exchange rates.
NG's outstanding debt declined 0.07% to P17.46 trillion at the end of September from P17.47 trillion at the end of August.
However, it was still 0.6% higher than the estimated year-end debt level of P17.36 Trillion. , Aubrey Rose A. innocente
