The national government’s debt stock increased by more than a quarter in November after both local and foreign obligations jumped by double-digits due to heavy borrowings, data from the Bureau of the Treasury showed.

As of November last year, the outstanding debt of the national government reached P10.134-trillion, higher by 31 percent compared with P7.709-trillion in the same month in the previous year.

In the first 11-months of 2020, debt stock has grown by 31 percent owing to higher funding requirements to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic and other socio-economic measures.

Of the total outstanding debt stock, 71 were sourced externally while 29 percent were domestic debt.

Based on the treasury report, debt in the local market jumped by 40 percent to P7.191-trillion from P5.115-trillion a year ago, while foreign debt hit P2.942-trillion, up 30 percent year-on-year from P2.594-trillion.

Amid aggressive borrowings to fund the government’s wider budget deficit due to COVID-19 response and dwindling revenue collections, the Treasury said the Duterte administration has not breached its P3 trillion borrowing ceiling for last year.

The national government’s total gross financing in January to November amounted to P2.96 trillion, just slightly below program.

Domestic borrowing stood at P2.38 trillion at end-November.

Of that amount, net Treasury bills totaled P465.31 billion, while Treasury Bonds and Retail Treasury Bonds (RTB) reached P631.74 billion and P738.54 billion, respectively, and net of the P88.56 billion domestic bond exchange.

Meanwhile, short-term borrowing from the central bank amounted to P540.00 billion.

External financing, on the other hand, registered an inflow of P583.64 billion in January to November.
During the period, project loan availment totaled P32.93 billion while program loans amounted to P364.64 billion. Meanwhile, offshore bond issuances totaled P186.06 billion.