Stronger peso, net repayments reduce PH debt to P7.869 trillion in June

MANILA, Philippines – A stronger peso and net repayments slightly reduced the national government’s outstanding debt to P7.869 trillion as of June.

In a report Friday, the Bureau of the Treasury said the country’s outstanding obligations declined 0.6 percent month-on-month from the record P7.916 trillion in May.

In a statement, the Treasury attributed the lower outstanding debt to date to “net repayments of both domestic and foreign loans and foreign exchange fluctuations.”

The peso strengthened to 51.233:$1 at end-June from 52.222 against the US dollar in May.

But compared to a year ago, the government’s debt jumped 12.1 percent from P7.016 trillion.

Over two-thirds of debt remained locally sourced borrowings, which rose 0.7 percent month-on-month and 15.6 percent year-on-year to P5.295 trillion.

“For June, the increment in domestic debt was caused by net issuance of government securities amounting to P38.94 billion. This was partially offset by the P490-million revaluation of onshore dollar bonds due to peso appreciation over the period,” the Treasury said.

On the other hand, external debt declined 3.2 percent month-on-month to P2.574 trillion “due to the net repayment of foreign loans amounting to P39.65 billion and the stronger peso which reduced the value of foreign debt by P50.36 billion” despite an increase of P4.66 billion due to third-currency appreciation, according to the Treasury.

Foreign debt nonetheless rose 5.6 percent year-on-year./ac