THE national government’s outstanding debt was P7.804 trillion at the end of July, up 10.8% year on year, according to the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr).
BTr said Monday that debt in the seven months to July fell 0.8% against the P7.869 trillion posted in the first half due to the appreciation of the peso and payments made on domestic debt.
“The National Government’s (NG) outstanding debt was recorded at P7,804.05 billion for end-July 2019, P64.58 billion or 0.8% lower than the previous month,” it said in a statement.
BTr said 67.3% or P5.251 trillion was owed to domestic creditors while 32.7% was provided by foreign creditors.
Domestic borrowing rose 14.1% year on year at the end of July, but fell 0.8% from a month earlier.
Government securities accounted for the majority of domestic debt at P5.25 trillion while the remainder consisted of loans entered into by various agencies as well as assumed loans.
External borrowing increased 4.5% year on year at the end of July but fell 0.8% from a month earlier.
As of July, the bulk of offshore borrowing consisted of dollar bonds worth the equivalent of P1.263 trillion, followed by peso global bonds totaling P129.679 billion and yen bonds worth the equivalent of P118.903 billion.
“For July, the lower external debt was due to the combined effect of local and third-currency fluctuations which reduced the value of foreign debt by P18.49 billion and P3.34 billion, respectively,” it said.
Meanwhile, total guaranteed obligations stood at P483.813 billion, 0.02% lower year on year.
“For July, the lower external debt was due to the combined effect of local and third-currency fluctuations which reduced the value of foreign debt by P18.49 billion and P3.34 billion, respectively,” it said. — Beatrice M. Laforga
