Government debt rises to P7.5 trillion in Jan 2019

MANILA, Philippines — The national government’s debt pile further rose to a fresh all-time high of P7.494 trillion as of end-January following the issuance of US-denominated global bonds and the net issuance of domestic debt papers, the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) reported yesterday.

According to the latest data from the BTr, the national government’s outstanding debt as of Jan. 31 climbed by nearly three percent to P7.494 trillion in January from P7.293 trillion in the previous month.

This is likewise 11.4 percent higher than the outstanding debt level of P6.726 trillion recorded in the same month last year.

The government borrows from both domestic and external lenders to plug the expected deficit in its budget, which is capped at 3.2 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) for this year.

Based on BTr data, 65.5 percent or P4.91 trillion of the government’s total debt stock as of January came from domestic lenders, while the remaining P2.584 trillion was borrowed from foreign creditors.

Domestic debt, for its part, was 2.8 percent above the end-December 2018 level of P4.777 trillion.

“For January, the growth in domestic debt was principally due to the net issuance of government securities amounting to P133.18 billion, which more than offset the (P200 million) downward valuation of onshore dollar bonds brought about by the appreciation of the peso against the dollar,” the BTr said.

Aside from the regular auctions, the BTr also opened the access to domestic Treasury bills and Treasury bonds earlier this year through the tap facility (for top government securities eligible dealers) and the over-the-counter facility (for tax-exempt state corporations).

Meanwhile, the national government’s foreign debt stock likewise inched up by 2.7 percent to P2.584 trillion in January from the previous month’s level of P2.515 trillion.

“The rise in external obligations was primarily caused by net availments of foreign loans amounting to P83.29 billion,” the Treasury said.

This, the BTr said, outpaced the impact of the weakening dollar, which resulted in a net downward revaluation of foreign debt amounting to P14.61 billion.

The Philippine government last January successfully returned to the international capital market with the issuance of $1.5 billion worth of 10-year dollar-denominated global bonds.

The debt papers carried an all-in yield of 3.75 percent, 110 basis points higher than the US Treasury rates. This was likewise 130 basis points lower than the initial pricing guidelines.

Meanwhile, the BTr said total guaranteed obligations as of end-January declined by 0.1 percent to P487.29 billion from P487.586 billion in the previous month.

The bureau attributed this to the impact of peso appreciation, which lowered the local currency value of external guaranteed by P2.22 billion, as well as the net repayment on domestic guarantees amounting to P520 million.