Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, December 7) — The country’s outstanding debt ballooned to a new record high of ₱13.647 trillion in end-October, according to Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) data released Wednesday.
The bureau said the total debt increased by ₱1.91 trillion or 16.31% since end-December 2021.
The latest tally, representing a 0.92% increase, is higher by ₱123.92 billion than the national debt stock in end-September due to the “net availment of both local and external loans.”
Domestic loans soared to ₱9.36 trillion during the period, a ₱54.58 billion jump from last month. These loans accounted for 68.58% of the country’s total borrowings in October.
The BTr said the domestic loan increased by ₱1.18 trillion or 14.50% since 2022 began due to “continued preference for domestic financing to mitigate foreign currency risk.”
This domestic debt increase was primarily caused by the government issuing ₱55.83 billion in securities while peso appreciation against the dollar trimmed ₱1.25-billion.
According to the BTr, the peso appreciated versus the greenback from ₱55.83 as of end-September to ₱58.047 in end-October.
Meanwhile, external debt hit ₱4.28 trillion by the end of the month, a ₱69.34-billion leap from September, mainly caused by ₱118.71 billion net availment of foreign financing.
“This was partly offset by the favorable net impact of both local and third-currency fluctuations against the US dollar amounting to ₱43.07 billion and ₱6.30 billion, respectively,” said the BTr.
The government’s guaranteed obligations, however, fell ₱10.69 billion from September to settle at ₱386.53 billion.
The Treasury attributed the decrease to the net repayment of domestic guarantees amounting to ₱7.30 billion.
Data also showed the impact of currency fluctuation on both local- and third- currency denominated guarantees amounted to ₱2.20 billion and ₱1.79 billion, respectively.
“These were slightly tempered by the net issuance of external guarantees amounting to ₱0.60 billion,” the bureau said.
From end-December 2021, total guaranteed debt was lower by ₱37.38 billion or 8.82%.
