Gov’t debt rises to P5.716T

The government’s outstanding debt slightly increased to P5.716 trillion at the end of the first 11 months of 2014, the latest data from the Bureau of the Treasury showed.

The end-November figure was higher by P2.695 billion from the P5.714 trillion in liabilities posted as of end-October last year. On a year-on-year comparison, the 11-month figure for 2014 was up 0.7 percent from P5.675 trillion registered during the first eleven months of 2013.

The outstanding debt borrowed from domestic sources as of end-November stood at P3.789 trillion as an additional P33.3 billion were added, due to net issuance, during the month of November, the Treasury explained.

The bulk of the end-November domestic debt were direct loans worth P3.789 trillion, mainly composed of government securities such as treasury bills and bonds sold to local investors. During the period, P156 million in liabilities were attributed as direct loans borrowed by government agencies while P442 million were assumed loans by the national government.

External debt decreased by 1.6 percent to P1.927 trillion at the end of the first 11 months of 2014 from the end-October figure of P1.958 trillion. The end-November outstanding foreign liabilities were also down 0.2 percent from P1.93 trillion during the first 11 months of 2013.

Debt securities or IOUs issued overseas comprised the bigger chunk of the outstanding external debt with P1.237 trillion worth at end-November last year.

Foreign loans directly contracted by agencies as well as those re-lent to government-owned and -controlled corporations or GOCCs, meanwhile, stood at P690.4 billion as of end-November.

Treasury data also showed that the government’s outstanding guaranteed debt went down to P432.2 billion in end-November 2014, 3.2-percent lower than the P446.4 billion posted as of end-October. A bigger decline was registered on a year-on-year basis as the latest figure was 8.3 percent below the P471.1 billion recorded in end-November 2013.