(Eagle News) — The National Government’s outstanding debt increased to a record-high of P6.82 trillion as of end of February 2018, according to the latest data released by the Bureau of Treasury on Wednesday, March 28.
The Bureau of Treasury said that this was higher by 1.4 percent or by P94.57 billion from the end of January level.
“Of the total stock, 35.05 percent orP2,390.80 billion were sourced externally while 64.95 percent or P4,429.86 are domestic issues,” it said in a statement.
The government’s domestic debt amounted to roughly P4.43 trillion, which is 0.02 percent or P0.92 billion lower from the end of January level.
“The slight decrease in domestic debt was due to the net redemption of government securities amounting to P1.28 billion which were partially tempered by peso depreciation that increased the value of onshore dollar bonds by P0.36 billion,” the bureau’s statement said.
The national government’s external debt, on the other hand, increased by 4.2 percent or by P95.49 billion from the end-January 2018 level.
Foreign exchange rate fluctuations, and net availments on foreign loans and bond issuance contributed to the growth in the external debt.
The bureau also explained that the peso depreciation and third currency appreciation also “raised the value of the US dollar and third current denominated debt by P32.59 billion and P4.76 billion, respectively.”
“Net availments on foreign loans and bond issuance for the month added P58.14 billion,” it said.
The total national government guaranteed obligations also amounted to P503.68 billion, which is 2.9 percent higher than the end of January level.
This is mainly the effect of US dollar and third currency fluctuations on external guarantees amounting to P4.15 billion and P3.11 billion respectively, the bureau explained.
The Bureau of Treasury noted that the peso depreciated from P51.341 to the dollar as of end of January 2018, to P52.07 as of the end of February.
The bureau has increased its domestic borrowing program recently to provide funds for the Philippine government’s “Build, Build, Build” infrastructure program, as well as to fund the P3.8 trillion national budget.
