The national government’s (NG) debt increased year-on-year in October due to an increase in borrowings and the depreciation of Philippine peso against the US dollar, the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) said.
Data from the BTr on Tuesday, December 3, showed that the NG’s debt level rose by 10.6 percent to P16.020 trillion in October this year from P14.480 trillion during the same month last year.
Month-on-month, this year’s debt slightly increased by 0.8 percent from P15.893 trillion last September.
Year-to-date, the external debt has increased by 9.6 percent or P1.403 trillion from P14.616 trillion last December 2023.
More than half, or 67.97 percent of the debt came from domestic sources, while the remaining 32.02 percent came from foreign sources, the BTr said.
Domestic debt as of end-October rose by 10 percent to P10.889 trillion from P9.902 trillion last year. Month on month, it declined by 0.4 percent from P10.936 trillion in September.
“The (month-on-month) decline was primarily due by the P52.65 billion net redemption of government securities, partially offset by the P6.23 billion escalation in peso conversion of US dollar-denominated domestic debt brought about by the weakened peso,” the BTr said.
Year-to-date, the government’s domestic debt has risen by 8.7 percent from P10.017 trillion last December 2023.
On the other hand, foreign debt jumped by 12.1% to P5.130 trillion as of October from P4.578 trillion last year. Month-on-month, external debt increased by 3.5% from P4.957 trillion.
BTr attributed the increase in foreign debt to foreign loan availments worth P20.47 billion, and foreign exchange movements, which added P152.90 billion to external debt.
“The impact of peso depreciation against the US dollar has increased external debt by P193.00 billion; however, this has been tempered by the P40.10 billion effect of favorable third-currency movements relative to the US dollar,” the country’s treasury bureau said.
The country’s guaranteed obligations reached P411.76 billion as of October, reflecting a 10.4 percent increase from P372.86 billion last September and 14.1 percent increase from P361 billion in October 2023. (TCSP)
