NG gross borrowings decline in October

The National Government’s (NG) gross borrowings declined in October amid a drop in foreign debt, the Bureau of the Treasury  said.

Data from the Treasury showed that total gross borrowings fell by 32.07% to PHP 87.81 billion in October from PHP 129.26 billion in the same month a year ago.

Month on month, gross borrowings slid by 31.89% from PHP 128.91 billion in September.

Domestic borrowings, which made up the bulk or 83.19% of the total borrowings, rose by 8.28% to P7HP 3.05 billion in October from PHP 67.46 billion in the same month last year.

This was composed of PHP 70 billion in fixed-rate Treasury bonds (T-bonds) and PHP 3.05 billion in Treasury bills (T-bills). There were no fixed-rate Treasury notes and retail Treasury bonds for the month.

On the other hand, external borrowings slumped by 76.12% to PHP 14.76 billion from PHP 61.8 billion in the same month in 2024. This is comprised of project loans.

“(The lower gross borrowings) is consistent with the bigger budget surplus in October 2025 versus a year ago that fundamentally reduced the need for more NG borrowings,” Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. Chief Economist Michael L. Ricafort said in a Viber message over the weekend.

In October, the NG fiscal position stood at a PHP 11.2-billion surplus as revenues and expenditures declined amid a corruption scandal. This brought the budget deficit to PHP 1.11 trillion in the 10-month period.

This was the first budget surplus since April and a turnaround from the PHP 248.08-billion deficit in September.

Despite the decline in October borrowings, the NG’s gross borrowings inched up by 2.19% to PHP 2.48 trillion in the first 10 months of the year from PHP 2.43 trillion a year ago.

The 10-month tally made up 95.5% of the revised PHP 2.6-trillion financing program for 2025.

As of end-October, domestic borrowings made up 81.9% of the total.

Domestic debt went up by 9.13% to PHP 2.03 trillion in the period ending October from PHP 1.86 trillion a year ago. This accounted for 96.29% of the PHP 2.11-trillion domestic borrowing program for this year.

Domestic debt was composed of PHP 1.12 trillion in fixed-rate Treasury bonds, PHP 425.61 billion in retail Treasury bonds, PHP 300 billion in fixed-rate Treasury notes, and PHP 184.2 billion in T-bills.

Meanwhile, gross external debt declined by 20.64% to PHP 449.35 billion as of end-October from PHP 566.25 billion a year ago. This accounted for 92.05% of the P488.174-billion external borrowing program this year.

Broken down, foreign debt was composed of PHP 191.97 billion in global bonds, PHP 172.01 billion in program loans, and PHP 85.38 billion in project loans.

The end‑October external debt reflected the USD 3.3-billion global bond issuance completed in late January and settled in February.

In the coming months, Mr. Ricafort said that the lower amount of maturing government securities in the fourth quarter could reduce the need for additional borrowings.

“Going forward, anti-corruption measures/reforms and other priority governance reforms would help narrow budget deficits and also fundamentally reduce the need for additional NG borrowings,” he said.

Mr. Ricafort also noted that rate cuts by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas and US Federal Reserve will help reduce interest payments.

As of Nov. 24, Finance Secretary Frederick D. Go said the government had raised PHP 2.08 trillion through a combination of regular Treasury bills and Treasury bond auctions and special issuances. The government had set a PHP 2.11-trillion domestic issuance program for 2025.

Meanwhile, National Treasurer Sharon P. Almanza said the weaker peso will affect the revaluation of foreign currency-denominated debt.

She said the peso, which hit an all-time low on Nov. 12, may hurt the NG’s efforts in bringing down the NG outstanding debt to PHP 17.36 trillion by yearend, as the forecast had assumed a lower foreign exchange rate.

NG outstanding debt slipped by 0.07% to PHP 17.46 trillion at the end of September from PHP 17.47 trillion at end-August.

However, this was still 0.6% above the projected year-end debt level of PHP 17.36 trillion. — Aubrey Rose A. Inosante