THE Philippines’s outstanding debt as of end-October climbed to a fresh record high of P13.64 trillion due to net availment of both local and external loans.
The national government’s (NG) outstanding obligation is already 1.56 percent higher than the national government’s projected debt stock level of P13.43 trillion by the end of this year.
“The NG’s total debt portfolio reflects a P123.92 billion or 0.92-percent increase from the end-September 2022 level, largely due to the net availment of both local and external loans,” the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) said in a statement on Wednesday.
“NG debt has increased by P1.91 trillion or 16.31 percent since end-December 2021. NG domestic debt amounted to P9.36 trillion, which is P54.58 billion or 0.59 percent higher compared to the end-September 2022 level,” it added.
The Treasury said about two-thirds of the national government’s outstanding debt were domestic borrowings while the remaining obligations were sourced externally.
The NG’s domestic debt as of end-October stood at P9.36 trillion, P54.58 billion higher than September’s P9.3 trillion.
The Treasury noted that the NG’s domestic debt rose by P1.18 trillion since the beginning of the year due to “continued preference for domestic financing to mitigate foreign currency risk.”
“For October, the increment to domestic debt was primarily due to the net issuance of government securities amounting to P55.83 billion while local currency appreciation against the US dollar trimmed P1.25 billion,” the Treasury said.
The Treasury said the NG’s external debt, meanwhile, rose to P4.28 trillion in end-October from P4.216 trillion in September due to the P118.71 billion net availment of foreign financing.
“This was partly offset by the favorable net impact of both local- and third-currency fluctuations against the USD amounting to P43.07 billion and P6.30 billion, respectively,” it added.
On a year-to-date basis, the country’s external debt has risen by P727.65 billion due to “local- and third-currency fluctuations that increase the peso value of foreign denominated obligations,” according to the BTr.
The NG’s guaranteed obligations declined by P10.69 billion month-on-month to P386.53 billion from P397.22 billion in September, based on BTr data.
“For October, the lower level of guaranteed debt was due to the net repayment of domestic guarantees amounting to P7.30 billion and the impact of currency fluctuation on both local- and third currency denominated guarantees amounting to P2.20 billion and P1.79 billion, respectively,” the Treasury said.
“These were slightly tempered by the net issuance of external guarantees amounting to P0.60 billion. From the end-December 2021 level, total NG guaranteed debt is lower by P37.38 billion or 8.82 percent,” it added.