Debts up a tad as local lending rises

External debt grew by a smaller degree at 0.65 percent to P4.63 trillion

Government’s total debts slightly increased to P14.79 trillion or 1.19 percent as of end-January this year from December 2023, the Bureau of the Treasury reported Friday.

The BTr attributed the growth to increased issuances of domestic securities and the weaker Philippine peso.

Out of the total debt stock, 31.29 percent were foreign loans while 68.71 percent were domestic loans.

For domestic debt, its amount reached P10.16 trillion or 1.44 percent higher compared to the year-ago level.

This reflected January’s net issuance of domestic securities worth P141 billion.

Breaking it down, gross issuance amounted to P211.11 billion, while principal payments stood at P69.67 billion.

The peso weakening against the US dollar added P2.81 billion to domestic debt, the

BTr said.

The government agency said the peso depreciated against the US dollar from P55.418 as of end-December 2023 to P56.403 as of end-January.

Foreign debt up slightly

External debt grew by a smaller degree at 0.65 percent to P4.63 trillion.

The BTr said this was again partly driven by the weaker peso against US dollar, adding P81.73 billion to the external debt.

However, the BTr said this growth was offset by favorable changes in other foreign OR third currencies, resulting in government savings worth P52.07 billion.

Aside from the issuances, the government also availed of loans from global financial institutions worth P61.86 billion in January.

The BTr said P5.36 billion was disbursed for projects of the government and P56.5 billion for programs funded with P400-million loan from the Asian Development Bank and P600 million from the World Bank.

Net repayment for external debt amounted to P85.41 billion in January.