The National Government (NG) debt increased by 11 percent to P12.89 trillion as of end-July from P11.61 trillion same period last year, data from the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) showed.
Compared to the previous month, in end-June, NG debt rose by 0.8 percent from P12.79 trillion because of the net issuances of both domestic and external loans as well as currency adjustments, said the BTr on Saturday, Sept. 3.
Year-to-date, the country’s total outstanding debt was up by 9.9 percent from end-December’s P11.73 trillion.
Total government debt vis-à-vis the gross domestic product (GDP) stood at 62.1 percent as of end-June, as reported earlier.
“NG debt has increased by P1.16 trillion or 9.9% (percent) since end-December 2021 but the debt-to-GDP ratio has improved to 62.1 percent as of end-Q2 (second quarter) 2022 from the 63.5% recorded in the previous quarter as the economy continues to recover from the health crisis,” said the BTr.
Of the P12.89 trillion total debt stock, about 31.5 percent came from external sources while 68.5 percent were domestic borrowings.
NG total domestic debt of P8.83 trillion is 8.8 percent higher from same period last year of P8.12 trillion. It is also 0.7 percent higher from P8.77 trillion in end-June this year.
“For July, the increase in domestic debt resulted from the net issuance of government securities amounting to P64.33 billion and the P0.74 billion impact of local currency depreciation against the US dollar,” said the BTr. Since the beginning of the year, NG domestic debt rose by 8.1 percent end-December’s P8.17 trillion.
As for NG external debt, which accounts for 31.5 percent of total outstanding debt, this amounted to P4.06 trillion as of end-July, up by 16.2 percent compared to same time last year of P3.49 trillion.
The BTr said external debt level increased due to the weak peso versus the US dollar which had an impact amounting to P25.77 billion while the agency also recorded a P6 billion net external financing. “These were tempered by the P0.75 billion effect of third-currency depreciation against the US dollar,” it added.
The NG external debt was up by 0.8 percent compared to end-June, and by 14 percent from end-December 2021.
The BTr said total NG guaranteed obligations fell by 1.4 percent month-on-month to P408 billion as of end-July.
“The decrease in guaranteed debt was primarily due to the net repayment of both domestic and external guarantees amounting to P8.56 billion and P0.19 billion, respectively. However, currency adjustments on both local and third currency-denominated guarantees were able to offset P1.40 billion and P1.43 billion, respectively,” said the BTr.