THE national government’s outstanding debt as of end-September this year ballooned to another record high of P11.92 trillion from P9.37 trillion a year ago.
Latest data from the Bureau of the Treasury showed that the government’s debt stock grew by 27.2 percent or P2.55 trillion in just a year.
Interestingly, the outstanding debt level as of end-September this year already exceeded by 1.62 percent the government’s expected level of debt stock by year-end at P11.73 trillion.
Sought for comment, National Treasurer Rosalia V. de Leon told the BusinessMirror “there will be repayments coming” which could bring down the total outstanding debt.
Nonetheless, compared to the previous month’s level of P11.64 trillion, the outstanding debt rose by P274.53 billion or 2.4 percent due to the net issuance of both domestic and external debt as well as peso depreciation against the US dollar.
Domestic borrowings cornered the bulk of the debt stock, accounting for 70.4 percent. The remaining 29.6 percent came from foreign sources.
Domestic debt reached P8.39 trillion, 30.3 percent year-on-year from P6.44 trillion.
This is also higher by 2 percent or P167.45 billion from P8.22 trillion as of end-August this year due to the net issuance of government securities.
Foreign debt
Meanwhile, foreign debt amounted to P3.53 trillion, soaring by 20.4 percent from P2.93 trillion as of September 2020.
This was also up by 3.1 percent or P107.08 billion from P3.42 trillion recorded as of end-August this year on the back of the net availment of foreign loans and the effect of local currency depreciation against the greenback.
Meanwhile, total outstanding guaranteed debt as of end-September this year also declined by 2.8 percent to P432.86 billion from P445.4 billion a year ago.
However, this inched up by 0.1 percent from the end-August level of P432.22 billion as peso depreciation against the US Dollar led to the increase in the value of external guarantees.
Based on the budget documents, the government expects outstanding debt to hit P13.42 trillion in 2022.
The country’s debt-to-GDP ratio this year is projected to rise to 59.1 percent and peak next year at 60.8 percent—slightly above the internationally accepted threshold—before gradually tapering off to 60.7 percent and 59.7 percent in 2023 and 2024.
The Department of Finance also sees the national government returning to its pre-pandemic debt and budget deficit levels as early as 2024 or by 2025, if the recommended fiscal measures are passed early by the next administration, and if the economy quickly recovers.