As the new year approaches, the Bureau of the Treasury reported that the national government's debt remained below the full-year target set by the Marcos administration for 2023.

At end-November last year, the national government's outstanding debt stood at P14.509 trillion, still P114 billion lower than the full-year program of P14.623 trillion, data from the Treasury bureau showed.

However, the latest debt level represents a 6.3 percent increase from the P13.644 trillion recorded in the same month of 2022.

When distributed among the Philippine population, each Filipino's share of the debt amounts to P133,068.

The national government has a history of surpassing its debt target before the new year due to underperforming revenue collections.

As of November, the government had amassed total revenues of P3.564 trillion, surpassing the original target of P3.538 trillion for the year.

Out of the total debt stock, 69.09 percent originates from domestic borrowings, with the remaining 30.91 percent sourced from external channels.

According to the Treasury bureau, domestic debt climbed six percent to P10.024 trillion in November from P9.428 trillion in the previous year.

On a month-on-month basis, local debt edged up by one percent from P9.902 trillion in October.

New domestic debt issued during the month totaled P171.1 billion, while principal redemption amounted to P45.14 billion, resulting in a net issuance of P125.95 billion.

The increase was partially mitigated by the P3.87 billion impact of peso appreciation on foreign currency-denominated domestic securities, the Treasury said.

From January to November, domestic debt posted an increase of P816.02 billion or 8.86 percent.

Meanwhile, the government's foreign debt reached P4.484 trillion in November, a six percent increase from the P4.216 trillion recorded in the same month of 2022.

Despite this, the external debt decreased by two percent from the previous month's P4.578 trillion.

The Treasury said the reduction was driven by a net repayment of foreign loans totaling P1.08 billion and favorable foreign exchange movements.

The peso appreciation against the US dollar resulted in P109.37 billion reduction in foreign obligations.

Since the start of 2023, the national government's external debt has increased by P273.84 billion.

For 2024, the Marcos administration expects the government’s debt to hit P15.842 trillion.