Metro Manila, Philippines – The country’s outstanding debt rose to ₱18.16 trillion in February 2026 with higher domestic borrowing, the Bureau of the Treasury reported on Wednesday, April 1.
In a press statement, the agency said the debt is up by 0.14 percent or ₱25.74 billion from January.
The Treasury said local debt was at ₱12.48 trillion, or 68.7 percent of total obligations.
“The modest uptick underscores the government’s stable and well-managed debt position amid evolving global financial conditions. This was largely driven by the continued prioritization of domestic financing to protect the government’s debt position from unfavorable external developments,” it said.
Meanwhile, external debt was down to ₱5.68 trillion, more than 2 percent lower from January.
“This is primarily driven by favorable foreign exchange rate movements, which decreased the peso value of US dollar- and third currency – denominated obligations by a combined ₱136.43 billion,” the treasury said, noting that the impact of currency movements on foreign currency-denominated domestic securities “remained minimal” in February.
In March, the peso sank to historic lows against the greenback, hitting the ₱60 per-dollar level over market jitters from the Middle East conflict, signaling a possible impact to external debt valuation in the coming months.
