Gov’t debt down from P7.9 trillion to P7.7 trillion

A huge amount of treasury bills and bonds that matured in November pulled down the national government’s debt at the end of the first 11 months of 2029 to P7.7 trillion.

The latest Bureau of the Treasury data released on Jan. 2 showed that total obligations declined 2.5 percent from P7.9 trillion in October 2019.

Total debt, however, climbed by 7.2 percent since November 2018’s P7.2 trillion.

In a statement, the Treasury attributed the decline in debt mainly to “net redemptions of domestic government securities.”

National Treasurer Rosalia V. de Leon earlier said that P190 billion in debt paper matured last November, which could have led to the brisk sale of “premyo” bonds last December.

Domestic debt, which accounted for 66.4 percent of the outstanding amount, declined 3.6 percent to P5.1 trillion due to the maturities as well as the effect of a stronger peso, the Treasury said.

The peso ended November 2019 at 50.758 against the US dollar, slightly stronger than its close in October at 50.769:$1, the Treasury noted.

External debt also declined 0.3 percent month-on-month to P2.59 trillion due to “the combined effect of local and third-currency foreign exchange adjustments, which decreased the value of foreign debt by P560 million and P6.18 billion, respectively,” according to the Treasury.

“At the same time, net repayments of external loans amounted to P530 million” in November, the Treasury added.

But year-on-year, outstanding local debt rose 8.7 percent from P4.7 trillion in November 2018, while foreign borrowings increased 4.3 percent from P2.49 trillion.

Edited by TSB