Gov’t debt piles up to P6.726 T in Jan

The national government’s debt pile hit a new record high of P6.726 trillion as of end-January due mainly to currency fluctuations, according to the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr).

The latest debt figure was 1.1 percent higher than the P6.652 trillion debt recorded in December last year.

“NG (national government) debt portfolio grew by 1.1 percent, or P73.66 billion, from the end-December level mainly due to the impact of foreign currency fluctuations,” the BTr said.

The amount is likewise higher than the P6.115 trillion outstanding debt posted by the national government in the same month last year.

The BTr said 65.9 percent, or P4.43 trillion, of the government’s outstanding debt portfolio came from domestic lenders, while the remaining P2.3 trillion was borrowed from foreign creditors.

Domestic debt inched down 0.2 percent to P4.43 trillion from the end-2017 level of P4.44 trillion.

This was attributed by the BTr to the net redemption of government securities amounting to P11.17 billion, which was partially tempered by peso depreciation that increased the value of onshore dollar bonds by P700 million.

On the other hand, external debt increased 3.8 percent to P2.3 trillion from the P2.21 trillion recorded in December last year.

The BTr said the increase in external debt was driven by the depreciation of the peso, which raised the value of dollar denominated bonds by P61.21 billion, and the impact of third currency appreciation, which also increased the value of third-currency denominated obligations by P6.78 billion.

Furthermore, the Treasury said there was a net availment of foreign loans during the period, amounting to P16.15 billion. Last month, the government floated $2 billion in dollardenominated global bonds to raise new money and swap old debt notes.

Meanwhile, the BTr said the national government’s guaranteed obligations reached P489.45 billion in January, 2.4 percent higher than the P478.11 billion in December last year.

“The increment is mainly the effect of dollar and third currency fluctuations against the peso on external guarantees amounting to P7.77 billion and P4 billion, respectively. These outpaced repayments on both domestic and foreign guarantees amounting to P0.34 billion and P0.09 billion, respectively,” it said.