Gov’t debt stock slightly up in Jan.-May

The government’s outstanding debt slightly rose to P5.886 trillion at the end of the first five months on additional domestic borrowings in May.

The latest Bureau of the Treasury data showed that the government’s total obligations as of May were 0.03-percent higher than the P5.884 trillion at end-April.

Outstanding domestic debt rose to P3.797 trillion as of the end of May from P3.769 trillion a month ago.

As of May, outstanding debt securities increased to P3.796 trillion from end-April’s P3.768 trillion.

In May, the Treasury sold P17.8 billion out of its P20-billion T-bills offering, as a “cautious” market before the May 9 elections raised the yield for the benchmark 91-day IOUs.

The Treasury also sold all P25 billion in T-bonds offered that month.

Outstanding domestic loans remained steady during the first five months at P598 million—P156 million in agencies’ direct loans and P442 million in assumed loans of Development Bank of the Philippines.

End-May external debt, meanwhile, slid to P2.088 trillion from P2.114 trillion a month ago.

Foreign debt securities still outstanding were slightly down to almost P1.29 trillion from a month ago’s P1.296 trillion.

Outstanding direct external loans also dropped to P798.7 billion as of May from P818.8 billion at end-April.