Gov’t debt inflows fell in 2022

MANILA, Philippines  -The Philippine government’s financing position fell by 13 percent in 2022, with net inflows totaling just P1.97 trillion compared with P2.25 trillion a year ago, partly because the sovereign skipped the euro bond market for the first time in four years, as well as the domestic dollar bond market.

December alone showed a net financing of P51.6 billion, mainly from P26.5 billion worth of project loans and P58 billion worth of Treasury bonds.

Local borrowings were partly offset as the government’s payout of maturing Treasury bills exceeded proceeds from new issues by P25 billion.

Data from the Bureau of the Treasury showed that for full year 2022, gross foreign borrowings rang up at P520 billion, including P120.7 billion in project loans, P136.6 billion in program loans, a total of P234.3 billion in US dollar bonds and P28.6 billion in Japanese yen bonds.

At the same time, the government paid P130.5 billion of its foreign obligations. This put the net foreign borrowing for the period at P389.6 billion, which was 17.5 percent higher than the P331.5 billion recorded in the previous year.

Further, gross domestic borrowings totaled P1.64 trillion, including P834.5 billion in retail Treasury bonds and P1.19 trillion in T-bonds. In 2022, the government paid P385.8 billion worth of T-bills more than the amount it issued while amortization settled at a net of P66.6 billion These put the net domestic borrowing last year at P1.58 trillion, which was 18 percent lower than the level in the past year.

At the end of 2022, the national government’s debt stock reached P13.42 trillion, representing 60.9 percent of gross domestic product (GDP).

In a report dated March 10, the Japan Credit Rating Agency noted that the public-sector debt-to-GDP ratio of the Philippines remained above 50 percent. The credit watchdog affirmed the Philippines sovereign credit rating of an investment-grade “A-“ with a stable outlook.

JCR said that at 60.9 percent, this was one of the lowest ratios among the sovereigns that it had rated in the A-range. “Hence, JCR does not consider that fiscal soundness will be impaired,” it added. “Remittances from Filipinos abroad remain solid and the economy stays highly resilient to external shocks.”