PH debt balloons to over P13.9 trillion

THE NATIONAL Government’s outstanding debt stood at P13.911 trillion as of April 30, 2023, the Bureau of Treasury (BTR) said on Wednesday, May 31, 2023.

The BTR said the debt increase from March to April is at .4 percent or P54.24 billion.

It attributed the “slight” increase to the “net issuance of external debt and local currency depreciation against the US dollar.”

The agency said 68 percent of the total debt stock or P9.457 trillion was sourced domestically, while 32 percent or P4.453 trillion were from foreign borrowings.

Domestic debt went down by .6 percent as compared to the month prior “due to the net redemption of domestic securities amounting to P57.79 billion.”

Foreign borrowings in April were higher by P109.56 billion as compared to that in March due to the depreciation of the local currency.

“For April, the increment to external debt was due to the P27.98 billion net availment of external loans and P94.28 billion impact of local currency depreciation against the US dollar,” the agency said. “On the other hand, third currency adjustments against the US dollar trimmed P12.30 billion from the peso value of foreign currency debt,” it added.

The lowest Philippine peso appreciation against the US dollar as of the April was at P56 per $1.

The finance department said earlier that the country’s debt-to-gross domestic product (GDP) ratio, or the amount of the government’s debt stock relative to the size of the economy, went down by 2.5 percent from 63.5 percent in the first quarter of 2022 to 61 percent from January to March 2023.*(Sunstar