Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, May 7) — Total debts held by the national government went up in March due to higher borrowings and exchange rate adjustments.
Outstanding government debt reached ₱7.802 trillion by the end of the first quarter, the Bureau of the Treasury said.
Of the amount, one-third is from foreign sources while the bulk has been sourced locally.
Domestic loans grew 6.1 percent higher to ₱5.197 trillion due to additional debt papers worth ₱298.21 billion.
Dollar bonds issued to Filipinos also contributed around ₱430 million to the debt stock, representing currency revaluations.
The peso depreciated to ₱52.629 versus the dollar for the month, weaker than the ₱51.769 rate used by the Treasury in February.
On the other hand, external debt rose by two percent to ₱2.605 trillion. Here, currency fluctuations added roughly ₱42 billion to the balance. The Philippines also issued 10-year dollar bonds in January, where it raised ₱11 billion.
Government debt as of March rose by ₱509.758 billion; the end-2018 level was ₱7.293 trillion, according to the Treasury.
Meanwhile, guaranteed debt payments stood at ₱479.667 billion in March, up by 1.3 percent from the previous month to take into account the higher debt stock.
The government has been borrowing from a mix of local and foreign sources to support the spending plans of the Duterte administration. This includes the issuance of bonds, credit lines from multilateral insitutions, and loans via official development assistance from foreign nations.
