Government debt surpassed the P14 trillion level in May, driven by increased borrowings and the depreciation of the peso against the US dollar, data from the Bureau of the Treasury showed. The national government's outstanding debt stock amounted to P14.096 trillion as of May 2023, reflecting a 13 percent increase compared to the P12.496 trillion recorded in the same month last year. Domestically borrowed funds accounted for 68 percent of the total debt stock, while the remaining 32 percent was sourced from overseas. On a month-on-month basis, the debt level registered a slight increase of 1.3 percent, rising from P13.911 trillion in April. According to the Treasury, this growth was primarily attributed to borrowings from domestic and external creditors along with the depreciation of the local currency against the US dollar. The peso experienced a depreciation of 7.3 percent against the greenback in May, weakening to 56.241 from 52.412 in the previous year. Foreign debt increased to P4.508 trillion in May, or 1.2 percent from the previous month's P4.453 trillion. On a year-on-year basis, it however surged by 18 percent from P3.83 trillion. According to the Treasury, the growth in overseas debt was dye to the net availment of external loans totaling P10.05 billion, as well as the impact of local-currency depreciation against the US dollar amounting to P59.7 billion. However, the value of foreign currency debt was partially offset by P15.02 billion due to third-currency adjustments against the US dollar. Meanwhile, domestic debt saw a 1.4 percent increase to P9.588 trillion from P9.458 trillion in April. On a year-on-year basis, it experienced an 11 percent surge from P8.665 trillion in May 2022. The Treasury stated that the rise in domestic debt for the month was largely attributed to the net issuance of government securities, amounting to P129.11 billion. Furthermore, the depreciation of the peso against the US dollar contributed an additional P1.56 billion to the value of onshore foreign currency-denominated securities, according to the Treasury. In line with the projected growth of the Philippine, economic managers are aiming to reduce the debt-to-gross domestic product (GDP) ratio to a range of 60 percent to 62 percent this year. The country's economy is expected to expand by six percent to seven percent.