Gov’t debt hits P4.7T
The government’s debt stock reached P4.712 trillion as of April, up by P6.3 billion, or 0.1 percent, from the March level as the state issued more domestic securities than were redeemed.
Data on total outstanding debt from the Bureau of the Treasury showed that 57 percent of the total, or P2.686 trillion, was borrowed from domestic lenders.
Local debt increased by P19 billion, or 0.7 percent, from P2.667 trillion posted in March.
Some 43 percent, or P2.026 trillion, of the total outstanding debt was booked in foreign currencies such as the US 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 these currencies.
Foreign borrowings decreased by P12.7 billion, or 0.6 percent, from the P2.039 trillion owed to overseas lenders in March. The decline was due mainly to the appreciation of the peso, which pared off P26 billion from the debt stock. Also, the government posted a net repayment of P1 billion in foreign borrowings during the month.
However, these reductions in the debt stock was offset by the appreciation of the euro and the yen, which added P14 billion to the state’s financial obligations.
In April, government debt paper pegged in dollars amounted to the equivalent of P1.005 trillion while yen and euro loans stood at P79 billion and P31.8 billion, respectively.
Further, the government’s total contingent debt—composed mainly of sovereign guarantees—went down by P6.4 billion to P518.7 billion due largely to the weakening of the dollar.
