MANILA, Philippines — The national government’s outstanding debt rose by nearly five percent to P9.615 trillion as of end-August from P9.16 trillion as of end-July following a record-high Retail Treasury Bond (RTB) sale last month, according to the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr).
The BTr attributed the increase to the net issuance of domestic securities in August, which includes the recent sale of five-year RTBs in the domestic market. The offering helped the government raise P516.3 billion in funds, the highest amount recorded in any of its retail issuances.
The BTr said proceeds of the RTB issuance would be used to aid the country’s efforts to mitigate the impact of COVID-19 pandemic and support sectors most affected by the health crisis.
The money would also be used to fund infrastructure projects and other national government expenditures, it said.
Since the start of the year, the country’s total debt stock expanded by nearly 25 percent or P1.88 from P7.73 trillion as of end-December 2019.
BTr data showed the bulk or 69.8 percent of the country’s total debt portfolio came from domestic lenders, while the remaining 30.2 percent came from external creditors.
Outstanding domestic debt stood at P6.71 trillion as of end-August, 7.3 percent or P456.53 billion higher than end-July’s P6.26 trillion.
From January to June, the BTr said the national government’s domestic borrowings amounted to P2.5 trillion.
About P925.38 billion of the amount came from the issuance of Treasury bills (T-bills), P447.86 billion from Treasury bonds (T-bonds) and P827.11 billion from RTBs.
This also includes the P300 billion short-term loan from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas through a repurchase agreement.
Meanwhile, the country’s outstanding external debt declined by 0.2 percent to P2.9 trillion as of end-August from P2.91 trillion in end-July.
“For August, the decline in external debt was attributed to the P37.36 billion net effect of local currency appreciation,” the BTr said.
This offset the net availment of external loans amounting to P27.07 billion, alongside the P4.64 billion impact of the appreciation on third-currency denominated external loans.
The BTr said external financing registered an inflow of P509.69 billion from January to August vis-à-vis debt repayment of P117.04 billion.