Philippine government debt at P6.875T in April

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine government’s outstanding debt declined in April partly due to stronger peso, the Bureau of the Treasury reported Tuesday.

The state’s debt stood at P6.875 trillion as of end-April, P4.8 billion or 0.10 percent lower than the previous month's record high P6.879 trillion.

Of the total debt stock, 34.56 percent or P2.376 trillion were sourced externally while 65.44 percent or P4.499 trillion were borrowed from domestic creditors.

Broken down, domestic debt in April jumped by P33.08 billion or 0.70 percent due to “the P33.34 billion net issuance of government securities tempered by the P0.26 billion effect of the stronger peso,” the BTr said.

External debt dropped P37.26 billion or 1.50 percent on the back of “downward adjustments on both peso and third currency-denominated debt,” the bureau added.

With the release of the first quarter gross domestic product data, government debt as a share of the economy rose 42.6 percent from 2017’s 42.1 percent level.

“This is consistent with the front-loading of government borrowings, particularly for external financing,” the BTr said.

The peso appreciated from P52.25 in March to P51.73 in April.

The government expects outstanding debt as a share of GDP to decline to 38.9 percent by 2022 from 42.1 percent at the end of 2017.

The government borrows from local and foreign sources to fund its budget deficit.