THE national government's gross borrowings ballooned to nearly P260 billion in May as both foreign and domestic debt surged, latest Bureau of the Treasury data showed.Based on the bureau's latest cash operations report, overall borrowings totaled P259.33 billion for the month, up 76.7 percent from P146.78 billion a year earlier. It also surged from the P89.20 billion recorded in April.Year to date, gross borrowings came in at P1.42 trillion, 16.13 percent higher than the P1.
The bulk of domestic borrowings, or P121.72 billion, came from fixed-rate Treasury bonds, with another P10 billion raised from T-bills.Global bonds, meanwhile, accounted for most of the foreign borrowings for the month at P115.25 billion and another P12.37 billion from project loans.Government financing surged to P251.45 billion for the month, down 60 percent from the year-earlier P141.67 billion. It was also up over five times from April's P50.1 billion.