The Marcos administration slightly reduced its borrowings to P1.78 trillion in the nine months to September, using up 81 percent already of its crafted financing program for the year.

Data from the Bureau of the Treasury showed total borrowings in January to September reached P1.78 trillion, 2.28 percent lower than the P1.82 trillion in the same period last year.

This means that as of the end of the third quarter, the government already used up 80.6 percent of the P2.21 trillion borrowing plan it crafted for the year.

About 77 percent of the borrowings were sourced from local lenders at P1.376 trillion, seven percent below the P1.477 trillion in end-September last year.

Of that amount, P965.83 billion was from fixed rate Treasury bonds. This is four percent above last year's P930.38 billion amid an environment of higher interest rates for long-term government securities following monetary policy tightening here and abroad.

The government also issued its second Retail T-bonds and raised P283.76 billion in February.

The administration also borrowed the remaining P126.85 billion from short-term T-bills. In comparison, the Treasury had a net redemption of P287.06 billion in the same period last year.

In terms of external debt, the Treasury secured P405.741 billion, up 17 percent, from the P345.96 billion from foreign sources during the nine-month period.

About 40 percent of that was from the triple-tranche global bond issuance where the government raised some P163.61 billion as it took advantage of high demand and temporarily easing global interest rates early in January.

At that time, the government borrowed $500 million for its 5.5-year tenor with a coupon of 4.743 percent while it issued $1.25 billion for a 10.5-year maturity at five percent.

Its 25-year sustainability bond fetched an average of 5.5 percent and raised another $1.25 billion.

Further, much of the external financing at P145.06 billion was made up of program loans from multilateral institutions. The remaining P97.08 billion was from project loans. Next year, the Philippines will increase its borrowing program by a little over 10 percent to P2.46 trillion, still in favor of domestic creditors.

Sourcing from the domestic market is part of the administration's prudent debt management strategy and its initiatives to further develop the domestic capital markets.

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