National gov’t debt rises 11.8 % to P7.195T
THE national government’s outstanding debt was P7.195-trillion in the 11 months to November, up 11.8% year-on-year, the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) said on Thursday.
The latest figure is 0.4% higher than the P7.167 trillion posted in the 10 months ended October.
This is equivalent to 98.16% of the projected P7.33 trillion outstanding debt for 2018.
Some 65.42% of the debt or P4.707 trillion was borrowed from domestic sources, up 11.9% year-on-year.
Domestic debt also rose 1.9% from the end of October.
“For the month, the registered increase in domestic debt was due to the net issuance of government securities amounting to P88.33 billion as the committee fully awarded treasury bonds amid strong market demand. This was slightly offset by the appreciation of the peso,” the BTr said in a statement.
The peso appreciated to P52.389 at the end of November from P53.527 at the end of October.
Meanwhile, the government owes P2.487 trillion to foreign lenders, up 11.6% from a year earlier and down 2.3% from October.
“The decline was particularly large due to the impact of the stronger peso registered for the month as it relieved P54.15 billion along with net repayments on foreign obligations amounting to P5.89 billion. This was slightly tempered by the net appreciation of third-currency denominated external debt amounting to P0.21 billion,”the BTr said.
The government borrows from domestic and foreign sources to fund its budget deficit, which is capped at 3% of gross domestic product for 2018.
The government set a 65-35 borrowing mix for 2018, in favor of domestic sources. The share of foreign debt widened from 20% in the previous year, with the government seeking to take advantage of favorable interest rates.
This year, the government hopes to maintain a 75-25 borrowing portfolio in favor of domestic lenders to help manage exposure to external risk.
The government expects the debt as a share to the economy to decline to 38.6% in 2022 from 42.3% in the first nine months of 2018. —