Foreign borrowings in Philippines jump 43% in Q2

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The Philippines continued to borrow more from offshore creditors as foreign borrowings approved by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) surged by 43 percent to $3.9 billion in the second quarter.

The latest figure was $1.17 billion higher than the $2.73 billion recorded in the same period a year ago, the central bank said in a statement yesterday.

In the first half of the year, the regulator approved $6.77 billion worth of public sector foreign borrowings, 18.3 percent lower than last year's $8.29 million.

The central bank said the approved borrowings for the second quarter consisted of one bond issuance worth $2 billion and three project loans amounting to $1.9 billion.

'These borrowings will fund the national government's general budget financing and financing/refinancing of assets in line with the Republic of the Philippines' Sustainable Finance Framework ($2 billion) and transport infrastructure projects ($1.9 billion),' the BSP said.