The national government's debt dipped below the P15 trillion mark in March this year, driven by repayments to domestic creditors, the Bureau of the Treasury reported.

According to the Treasury's report on Thursday, May 2, the national government’s outstanding debt decreased by 1.6 percent in March to P14.93 trillion from P15.18 trillion in the previous month.

This reduction was primarily attributed to repayments totaling P299.45 billion to investors who had purchased government securities, effectively offsetting the P240 million impact of peso depreciation on foreign currency domestic debt.

Nevertheless, the end-March debt level stands at 7.7 percent higher compared to the P13.85 trillion recorded in the same month last year.

Of the total debt stock, 68.86 percent represents domestic debt, while 31.14 percent is attributed to external debt.

The domestic debt level posted a 2.8 percent decline during the month, decreasing to P10.28 trillion from P10.57 trillion at the end of February.

Since the start of the year, local debt has risen by P259.56 billion or 2.59 percent, while on a year-on-year basis, it has increased by P764.33 billion or 8.03 percent.

In contrast, foreign debt increased by one percent to P4.65 trillion from P4.6 trillion the previous month.

The Treasury attributed this rise to additional foreign loans amounting to P44.01 billion, along with the impact of local currency depreciation, which contributed P7.05 billion to the valuation of US dollar-denominated debt.

"This more than offset the P4.83 billion impact of the appreciation of other currencies against the US dollar," the Treasury noted.

The peso averaged 56.26 against the US dollar in March, weaker than 56.174 in February.

External debt has grown by P49.89 billion or 1.09 percent from its level at the end of December 2023 and by P304.50 billion or 7.01 percent on a year-on-year basis.