NG debt posts another record: ₧10.3T in Jan

THE national government’s total outstanding debt in January has hit a new record high at P10.327 trillion as the government looked for more funds to respond to the Covid-19 pandemic. National Treasurer Rosalia V. De Leon confirmed to the Businessmirror that the outstanding debt figure recorded as of end-january was a record high in terms of nominal amount. This figure was also even higher compared to the P10.13-trillion outstanding debt logged by the country in November last year. According to the Bureau of the Treasury (BTR), the January figure was up 5.4 percent from end-2020 level of P9.795 trillion, “predominantly due to the reavailment of the P540-billion short-term loan facility from the BSP [Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas].” It was also a 33-percent jump from P7.76 trillion recorded in January 2020. Of the total debt stock, 71 percent was sourced locally, while 29 percent came from foreign sources. The government’s domestic debt reached P7.3 trillion, 9.4 percent above the end-2020 level of P6.69 trillion. The domestic debt as of end-january also surged by 43 percent from only P5.12 trillion recorded a year ago. On the other hand, external debt in January slid by 3.2 percent to P3 trillion from P3.1 trillion posted in end-december. However, this was a 13.7-percent hike from P2.6 trillion in January 2020. “The lower external debt figure was caused by the net repayment of foreign loans amounting to P93.49 billion and the P8.47 billion effect of third currency depreciation against the dollar. These more than offset the P3.55-billion effect of local currency depreciation on dollar-denominated loans for the period,” the BTR said.

Guaranteed debt

MEANWHILE, total outstanding guaranteed debt of the national government slightly declined by 0.4 percent to P456.39 billion in January from P458.35 billion in end-december last year. It was also 6.5 percent lower than the January 2020 level of P488.29 billion. Domestic outstanding guaranteed debt amounted to P254.1 billion, a slight contraction of 0.1 percent from the December 2020 level of P254.42 billion. This was also a 2.4-percent drop from P260.3 billion in January 2020. The government’s external outstanding guaranteed debt also settled to P202.28 billion, dipping by 0.8 percent from P203.93 billion in December last year. This figure is also an 11.3-percent reduction from P227.99 billion in January 2020. Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III said earlier they expect the national government’s debt this year to reach 57 percent of GDP as the country aims to borrow a total of P3.03 trillion, roughly the same amount it borrowed in 2020. The government has since ramped up its borrowing plan to finance the expected higher budget deficit and to boost its war chest against the Covid-19 pandemic. In 2020 the government posted a record-high full-year outstanding debt of P9.795 trillion and a 14-year-high debtto-gdp ratio of P54.5 percent. This came a year after the country recorded an outstanding debt level of P7.73 trillion as it snatched a historic low debt-to-gdp ratio of 39.6 percent.