MANILA, Philippines — The national government’s debt pile eased to P7.452 trillion as of end-February following the net redemption and payment of domestic and foreign obligations, the Bureau of the Treasury reported yesterday.
According to latest data from the BTr, the national government’s outstanding debt as of end-February slipped by 0.6 percent or P42.6 billion from an all-time high of P7.494 trillion in the previous month.
This was, however, 9.2 percent higher than the government’s debt level of P6.82 trillion in the same month last year.
The Philippine 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, 65.7 percent of the government’s total debt stock came from domestic lenders, while the remaining 34.3 percent was sourced from external creditors.
Domestic debt, in particular, fell by 0.2 percent to P4.898 trillion from P4.91 trillion in the previous month, as the government redeemed more securities than those it issued.
“For February, the lower domestic debt was principally due to the net redemption of government securities amounting to P11.46 billion and the P190 million downward valuation of onshore dollar bonds brought about by the appreciation of the peso against the dollar,” the BTr said.
The peso ended stronger at 51.769 to $1 in February compared to 52.161 to $1 as of end-January.
Meanwhile, external obligations likewise declined by 1.2 percent to settle at P2.553 trillion from P2.584 trillion in the previous month.
The Treasury attributed this to the net repayment of foreign loans, which amounted to P3.15 billion, as well as the impact of currency fluctuation on both dollar and third-currency denominated debt, which pulled down the value of foreign debt by P19.42 billion and P8.38 billion, respectively.
According to the BTr, total guaranteed obligations as of end-February dropped by 2.9 percent to P473.37 billion from P487.29 billion.
“This was due to net repayments on both domestic and external guarantees amounting to P8.51 billion and P110 million, respectively,” the Treasury said.
The bureau added that local and third currency appreciation also lowered the value of external guarantees by P3.11 billion and P2.18 billion, respectively.
For 2019, the national government is programmed to borrow P1.19 trillion, 20 percent higher than last year’s borrowing program of P986 billion.