{
  "id": 10250170,
  "title": "Government borrowings down 72 percent in August",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/27/government-borrowings-down-72-percent-in-august",
  "topic": "business",
  "section": "Business",
  "published": "2026-09-27T16:00:00.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Philippine Star Business",
    "slug": "philippine-star-business",
    "url": "https://www.philstar.com/business/2026/09/28/2559319/government-borrowings-down-72-percent-august"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "The Philippine national government reduced its gross borrowings by a staggering 72.2 percent in August compared to the previous year, according to the Bureau of the Treasury. Total gross borrowings plummeted to P141.27 billion in August, down from P508.53 billion in the same timeframe last year. The significant decrease was primarily due to the absence of a retail Treasury bond (RTB) sale in August 2025, which had raised P425.61 billion in new funds the previous year. No RTB was issued in August 2025, contributing to the sharp decline.\n\nBulk borrowings, accounting for 90.6 percent of the total, came from local lenders, totaling P127.93 billion, a 74.3 percent drop from the P498.21 billion in August 2024. The domestic borrowings included P125.16 billion in fixed-rate Treasury Bonds and P2.77 billion in short-term T-bills. On the external debt front, the Treasury secured P13.34 billion, marking a 29.3 percent increase from P10.31 billion in August 2024. This external financing was primarily sourced from project loans.\n\nFor the broader eight-month period, borrowings decreased by just 0.5 percent, reaching a total of P2.25 trillion from P2.27 trillion in the same period last year. As of the end of August, domestic borrowings had fallen by 8.9 percent to P1.68 trillion, while offshore financing surged by 35.7 percent to P578.2 billion. The government has successfully completed around 82 percent of its borrowing plan for the year, which stands at P2.73 trillion. Of this, P1.92 trillion will be raised domestically, and P815.51 billion will be sourced from external markets.",
  "summary": "The national government slashed its gross borrowings by 72.2 percent in August from a year earlier, as the absence of a retail Treasury bond (RTB) sale pulled down domestic borrowings, the Bureau of the Treasury said.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}