Total government borrowings declined by nine percent (9%)in January after the country's budget deficit fell more than 50 percent during the month, owing to strong revenues and prudent spending, according to the Bureau of Treasury.

Data from the Treasury revealed the government borrowed P39.66 billion from domestic and foreign creditors last January or P3.91 billion lower than the P43.57 billion it borrowed in the same month last year.

Domestic borrowings amounted to P39.06 billion in the first month of 2008 after the Treasury issued P21.34 billion worth of 91-, 182-, and 364-day treasury bills and P17.72 billion worth of three-, four-, seven-, 10-, and 25-year treasury bonds.

Foreign borrowings only amounted to P606 million compared to the P45.09 billion last year. The government decided to source more loans that carry lower interest and longer repayment period from multilateral lending agencies such as the World Bank, Asian Development Bank, and Japan Bank for International Cooperation.

Statistics showed that payments for maturing foreign and domestic obligations dropped 31.32 percent to P11.74 billion in January from the P19.03 billion that was paid in the same month in 2007.

The government plans to borrow P345.3 billion this year, 22.2 percent lower than the P443.96 billion it borrowed last year to pare down its debt and cover the country's budget deficit.