The national government paid more maturing debts in January, exceeding the amount it borrowed during the month that resulted to a net payment of P10.75 billion, the Bureau of Treasury data showed.

During the first month of 2010, the Arroyo administration's borrowings from local and offshore lenders amounted to P45.76 billion, which was set aside to cover other expenditure requirements of government.

The data showed that the government paid P56.51 billion in maturing debts for the month.

The January 2010 figure was a reversal of P61.04 billion net borrowings registered in the same period last year.

For 2010, the Department of Finance (DoF) has programmed $2.5 billion borrowings from foreign lender, while it set P475 billion from local capital market. The government needs to borrowing additional money to cover the projected higher budget deficit of P293.2 billion this year and to pay off maturing obligations.