Gov’t debt burden increases to P4.87T

Documents on the total outstanding debt from the Bureau of the Treasury showed that the government’s debt stock rose to P4.87 trillion as of September, up P77.3 billion, or 1.6 percent, from the August level.

The government’s debt stock rose to P4.87 trillion as of September, up P77.3 billion, or 1.6 percent, from the August level due to the continued weakness of the peso and a net issuance of domestic securities.

With the latest population estimate at 95.6 million, the amount of total outstanding debt would mean that each citizen has a share of P50,950.

The debt stock as of September this year increased by P206.6 billion, or 4.4 percent, from P4.66 trillion in the same month of 2010.

Documents on the total outstanding debt from the Bureau of the Treasury showed that 57 percent, or P2.78 trillion, was borrowed from local lenders.

Domestic debt rose P24 billion, or 0.9 percent, from the P2.76 trillion posted in August.

The increase was attributed to the government having issued more local debt paper compared to new ones that were redeemed as well as the continuing depreciation of the peso against the dollar.

On the other hand, 43 percent, or P2.09 trillion, of the total outstanding debt was booked in foreign currencies like the dollar, euro and yen.

Aside from loans extended by multilateral lenders and official aid from foreign governments, the Philippines also borrows abroad through the issuance of bonds denominated in those currencies.

Foreign borrowings increased P53.3 billion, or 2.6 percent, from the P2.04 trillion owed to overseas lenders in August.

The increase in foreign debt was due mainly to the depreciation of the peso against the dollar, which added P57.6 billion to the debt stock.

The government also incurred P4.9 billion more in new debts than what had been repaid in September.

On the other hand, the depreciation of the yen and the euro against the dollar helped reduce the total obligations by P9.2 billion.

In September, government debt paper denominated in dollars amounted to an equivalent of P1.02 trillion while yen and euro loans stood at P85.3 billion and P29.7 billion, respectively.