THE national government’s outstanding debt as of end-February this year soared to a new record high of P10.406 trillion as the government continued to borrow more money to respond to the raging Covid-19 pandemic.
Latest data from the Bureau of the Treasury showed this was up by P78.37 billion or 0.8 percent from the previous record high of P10.327 trillion as of end-January this year “due to net financing from local and external sources and currency fluctuations.”
According to the Treasury, this was also a 6.2-percent increase from the end-2020 level of P9.795 trillion and a 27.4-percent spike from only P8.17 trillion as of end-February last year.
Of the total debt stock, 71 percent are domestic borrowings while 29 percent came from foreign sources.
The national government’s domestic debt as of end-February also reached P7.36 trillion, a 0.5-percent uptick or P37.51 billion above the end-January 2021 level of P7.33 trillion attributed to net availment of domestic financing.
Domestic debt as of end-February also surged by 35.1 percent from only P5.45 trillion a year ago. It also grew by 10 percent from only P6.69 trillion as of end-December 2020.
On the other hand, external debt as of end-February this year amounted to P3.04 trillion, inching up by 1.4 percent from P3 trillion in the previous month.
“For February, the increment to external debt was due to the net availment of foreign loans amounting to P14.53 billion and the P36.03-billion effect of local currency depreciation against the dollar. Meanwhile, the net appreciation of the peso against third currencies trimmed P9.70 billion,” the Treasury said.
The government’s external debt as of end-February was also a 12-percent jump from only P2.72 trillion a year ago. However, this was a 1.9-percent decline from P3.1 trillion as of end-December 2020, mainly because of debt repayment.
The government’s total outstanding guaranteed debt also shrank by 2.1 percent to P446.72 billion in February this year from P456.39 billion in the previous month.
“The lower level of guarantees was due to the net redemption of both local and foreign guarantees amounting to P9.99 billion and P0.34 billion, respectively,” the Treasury said.
On top of this, the Treasury also said third-currency exchange rate fluctuations further lowered the peso value of external guarantees by P1.77 billion, slightly offsetting the P2.43-billion effect of local currency depreciation against the dollar.
Total outstanding guaranteed debt in February also dropped by 7.8 percent from P484.36 billion a year ago. It also slid by 2.5 percent from P458.35 billion as of end of last year.
Domestic outstanding guaranteed debt for the month also fell by 4.3 percent to P244.12 billion this year from last year’s P254.996 billion. It also declined by 3.9 percent from P254.11 billion in January this year.
The government’s external guaranteed debt also contracted by 11.7 percent year-on-year to P202.6 billion from P229.36 billion in February 2020. It also slightly went down by 0.2 percent from P202.28 billion in January this year.
Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III earlier said they expect the national government’s debt this year to reach 57 percent of GDP as the country aims to borrow a total of P3.03 trillion, roughly the same amount it borrowed in 2020.
Image credits: AP/Aaron Favila
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