UTANG NG PH PUMALO SA P1.22-T SA UNANG 4 NA BUWAN

UMABOT sa P1.22 trillion ang utang ng pamahalaan sa unang apat na buwan ng taon kung saan malaking bahagi nito ay ginamit sa pagpondo sa COVID-19 response at economic relief initiatives nito, ayon sa Department of Finance (DOF).

Tinukoy ang report mula sa Bureau of the Treasury (BTr), sinabi ng DOF na ang lion’s share o P982 billion (81%) ng total borrowings para sa nasabing mga buwan ay nagmula sa loob ng Filipinas.

Ang mga ito ay nalikom sa pamamagitan ng treasury bills at bonds  at sa P300-billion short-term loan mula sa Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP).

“The balance, amounting to around P237 billion or 19% of the total, was sourced externally through a mix of concessional foreign loans and bond issuances.”

“Higher  borrowings this year are crucial to letting the Duterte administration carry out a wide range of initiatives for the country to cope with the unexpected shocks unleashed by the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and, before that, the eruption of the Taal Volcano,” sabi ni Finance Secretary Dominguez III.

“The government has had to increase spending to implement its Four-Pillar Socioeconomic Strategy against COVID-19 even as strict mobility restrictions that national and local governments imposed since March to suppress the coronavirus’ spread had curtailed economic activity and led to a sizeable drop in the state’s revenue intake,” ani Dominguez.

Sinabi ng Finance chief na bago ang COVID-19 crisis, kinailangan ng administrasyong Duterte na harapin sa pagsisimula ng 2020 ang pagsabog ng Taal Volcano, na nagresulta sa temporary suspensions sa production, partikular sa  Cavite-Laguna-Batangas-Rizal-Quezon (Calabarzon) growth corridor.

“While the government is borrowing more than usual this year in order to fund healthcare, social protection and other essential programs while our revenues are down, we have to be careful about spending too much above our means,” aniya.

“None of us knows how long this pandemic will last. As we have borrowed a lot– P1.22 trillion in just four months, to be exact–fiscal space should be saved to afford us elbow room in case fu-ture circumstances require a new round of big healthcare spending, subsidies and/or stimulus pro-grams,” dagdag pa ng kalihim.