It was also in March when the Philippines borrowed P117.3 billion through US dollar-denominated global bonds across three tenors, including the country’s first-ever “green” bonds aimed at financing climate mitigation and adaptation programs.
BTr data showed that as of end-March, 69.8 percent of the Philippines’ debt amounting to P8.85 trillion were peso-denominated, as the government borrows more from local creditors to temper foreign exchange risks while taking advantage of flushing liquidity here. With P2.2 trillion in gross borrowings programmed for 2022, of which three-fourths or P1.65 trillion will be sourced from domestic creditors mainly through the issuance of treasury bills and bonds, outstanding debt was expected to hit a new annual record-high of P13.42 trillion by end-2022, from P11.73 trillion in 2021.Despite expectations of 7 to 9 percent gross domestic product growth this year, the debt-to-GDP ratio was expected to slightly rise to 60.
“Recognizing [the Philippines’] efforts at maintaining fiscal discipline and ensuring prudence in public expenditure, multilateral financial institutions and commercial markets remain very supportive of the national government’s financing program,” the DOF said. Also, “a total of 54 project loans amounting to around $13.5 billion have been contracted in support of infrastructure flagship projects under the ‘Build, Build, Build’ program, as well as other priority sectoral initiatives and COVID-19 response” as of December last year, the DOF said. For big-ticket projects under the ambitious Build, Build, Build infrastructure program alone, the government borrowed $8.8 billion across 27 concessional or low-interest loans as of 2021.