Stronger peso trims PH debt value to P7.9 trillion

The stronger peso clipped the value of the national government’s total debt to P7.906 trillion in October, the latest Bureau of the Treasury data released on Friday showed.

Total debt value declined a fraction of a percent, 0.02, as of end-October, from P7.908 trillion in September. The amount of debt, however, climbed 10.3 percent from P7.167 trillion in 2018.

Domestic debt, which accounted 67.1 percent of total, inched up 0.9 percent but increased by a faster 14.8 to P5.305 trillion.

In a statement, the Treasury attributed the increment in local borrowings to P47.5 billion worth of securities, or debt papers, issued by the government.

Peso strength against the dollar reduced debt value by at least P520 million.

The Treasury said the peso strengthened to 50.769 per dollar by end-October from 51.795 last September.

Edited by TSB
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