Jul 122013
 
Gov't plans to borrow less next year

MANILA, Philippines – The national government has proposed a slightly lower borrowing program for next year, with the bulk still to be financed locally in a bid to take advantage of huge domestic liquidity, the National Treasurer said. A total of P714.6 billion will be borrowed by the Aquino administration next year, 2.78 percent down from this year’s P735 billion, said Rosalia de Leon in a phone interview with The STAR on Friday. “The borrowing mix will be 87 percent to 13 percent, in favor of domestic borrowings,” she said. Broken down, funds to be raised in the domestic market will amount to P620 billion, a decline of 7.44 percent from the programmed P669.8 billion this year.  “We still expect strong appetite for government securities even in terms of tenor. Definitely, we see strong demand in the long-end of the curve,” De Leon said. Inflation is expected to remain benign, she explained, and thus that would drive investors to seek for higher yields which will be found in longer-termed papers. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 On the foreign market, De Leon said a total of P94.6 billion, equivalent to $2.2 billion, may be raised through bond flotations and official development assistance (ODA) from multilateral financial institutions.  Of the total foreign financing, $1 billion may be sourced through offshore bond issuances, while the remaining amount of $1.2 billion may come from the World Bank and Asian Development Bank, among others. The planned external borrowings for 2014 will Read More …