Finance Secretary Diokno: PH debt manageable, not cause for concern
MANILA, Philippines — The country’s debt is “manageable” and should not be a “cause for concern,” Finance Secretary Benjamin Diokno said on Wednesday.
As of end-July, the country’s debt climbed to P12.89 trillion, Bureau of the Treasury figures showed.
“Actually, our public debt is manageable, let’s put it that way. It should not be a cause for concern,” Diokno said in a Commission on Appointments panel debate on his ad-interim appointment.
According to the official, the country’s debt-to-gross domestic product (GDP) ratio increased due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Although we came from a very low debt-to-GDP ratio of less than 40 percent before the pandemic, it went up to around 62 percent because of the pandemic because we have to buy the vaccines, we have to beef our health services, etcetera,” Diokno explained.
“That should not be a cause for concern. Sixty-two percent, that’s very manageable compared to other countries whose debt-to-GDP ratio is 200 percent… 100 percent as in many European countries,” he added.
Outgrowing the country’s debt, Diokno said, would address the current debt-to-GDP ratio.
The Finance chief stressed the government has a “very strong economic strategy which will make the economy grow by 6.5 to 8 percent” in the next six years.
“So, higher revenues, stricter on the expenditure side, I think we can manage our debts,” Diokno said.
The Philippine debt is projected to reach P14.63 trillion by the end of the year.
