RTB issue pads gov’t debt to P6.37 T

MANILA, Philippines - The national government’s outstanding debt hit P6.37 trillion in end-April after the issuance of fixed-rate retail treasury bonds (RTB) during the review period, the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) reported yesterday.

Based on Treasury data, the country’s debt pile rose 2.9 percent in end-April from the P6.19 trillion recorded in end-March.

About 65 percent or P4.16 trillion of the total debt came from domestic sources, while the remaining P2.21 billion came from foreign lenders, the BTr said.

Local debt, for its part, was up 4.8 percent from P3.97 trillion as of end-March.

“Domestic debt levels were driven by the net issuance of government securities amounting to P192.48 billion, including P181 billion in three-year RTB,” the Treasury said in a statement.

“The increase was slightly tempered by the stronger peso which reduced the value of onshore dollar bonds,” it added.

Last month, the Treasury raised P181 billion from the sale of three-year fixed rate RTBs amid strong appetite from the general investing public. The bonds were sold at a coupon rate of 4.25 percent.

On the other hand, external debt as of end-April inched down to P2.21 trillion as compared to P2.22 trillion posted a month ago.

The BTr attributed the decrease in foreign credit to the effect of the stronger peso, which reduced the value of external obligations by P14.11 billion.

This dwarfed the upward impact of the revaluation of third-currency denominated debt worth P320 million and net availments of P2.01 billion.

Meanwhile, national government’s guaranteed debt dropped 4.2 percent to P495.08 billion in April from P516.80 billion in March.

The BTr said the reduction was mainly due to net repayments of domestic guarantees amounting to P19.33 billion, and the P2.26 billion effect of peso appreciation and third currency revaluation on foreign guarantees.