Gov't misses debt target again

On behalf of the government, the BoB conducts monthly auctions of government Treasury Bills and bonds, with primary dealers bidding to lend government the funds according to the returns on offer. The primary dealers, who are exclusively banks, compete by offering the yields or returns they would desire on the funds they are willing to lend to government.

Government is banking on its domestic borrowing programme to plug the forecast P6 billion deficit in the 2021-2022 budget, as the other main source of funding, the Government Investment Account (GIA), is running low due to COVID-19 spending.