Gov’t debt eased to P5.75T in end-May

The outstanding debt of the national government slightly fell to P5.75 trillion in end-May as both domestic and foreign obligations declined.

The figure at the end of the first five months was 0.7-percent lower than end-April’s P5.79 trillion, Bureau of the Treasury data showed.

However, the national government’s outstanding debt as of May was 2.1-percent higher than the P5.63 trillion recorded a year ago.

The state’s domestic debt as of end-May slid by 0.8 percent month-on-month to P3.82 trillion from P3.85 trillion in end-April due to the net redemption of government securities worth P32.44 billion, the Treasury explained.

The appreciation of the dollar, however, jacked up by P150 million the peso value of multi-currency securities, the Treasury said, noting that the peso depreciated to 44.60:$1 as of end-May from 44.30:$1 in end-April.

End-May obligations to local sources accounted for two-thirds of the total debt portfolio, in line with the risk management plan to reduce foreign currency exposure, the Treasury pointed out.

On a year-on-year comparison, however, end-May domestic debt rose 3 percent from P3.71 trillion a year ago.

The national government’s foreign debt also declined month-on-month in May by 0.3 percent to P1.93 trillion from P1.94 trillion in the previous month.