THE NATIONAL government’s outstanding debt rose in February as foreign loans increased while the peso depreciated, the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) said.
Total debt stood at P6.82 trillion at the end of February, up 1.4% from a month earlier and up 9.8% from a year earlier.
Some 64.95% or P4.43 trillion of the debt was locally sourced.
Domestic debt rose 0.02% from the end of January.
“The slight decrease in domestic debt was due to the net redemption of government securities amounting to P1.28 billion which were partially tempered by peso depreciation that increased the value of onshore dollar bonds by P0.36 billion,” the BTr said.
The peso weakened to P52.07 against the dollar at the end of February, from P51.341 a month earlier.
Domestic debt consisted of government-issued securities worth P4.43 trillion, and loans of P948 million.
The total rose 11.2% from the end of February.
Meanwhile, foreign debt rose 4.2% at the end of February, from P2.3 trillion a month earlier.
“The growth in external debt was driven by net availments on foreign loans and bond issuances as well as forex fluctuations,” the BTr said.
It added that the peso’s depreciation raised the value of dollar-denominated debt by P32.59 billion, and third currency-denominated debt by P4.76 billion.
Dollar bonds amounted to P1.29 trillion, while peso global bonds totaled P126.68 billion. Yen bonds, on the other hand, amounted to P48.81 billion.
The government borrows from local and foreign sources to fund its budget deficit, which for this year is capped at 3% of the country’s gross domestic product.
This year, it has set a 74-26% borrowing mix in favor of domestic creditors, and plans to borrow a total of P888.227 billion. — Elijah Joseph C. Tubayan
