The Monetary Board, the policy-making body of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, said Friday it approved $2.73 billion of public sector foreign borrowings in the second quarter of 2023.
It said the figure was $810 million, or 23 percent, lower than the $3.54 billion it approved in the same period last year.
The second-quarter borrowings consisted of three project loans from the Japan International Cooperation Agency to fund various railway projects of the government.
Under Section 20, Article VII of the 1987 Constitution, prior approval of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, through its MB, is required for all foreign loans to be contracted or guaranteed by the government.
Letter of Instructions No. 158 dated January 21, 1974 also requires all foreign borrowing proposals by the national government, government agencies and government financial institutions to be submitted for approval-in-principle by the MB before commencement of actual negotiations.
This is to ensure that external debt requirements are at manageable levels to support external debt sustainability.