Weak peso pushes NG debt to record P19.66 trillion

MANILA, Philippines — The country’s outstanding debt ballooned to another record high of P19.66 trillion as of end-September, due to issuance of government securities and peso depreciation against the dollar.

Data from the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) showed that the national debt inched up by 0.3 percent in end-September to eclipse the previous all-time high of P19.61 trillion in August.

On a year-on-year basis, the debt stock picked up further by 12.6 percent from the P17.46 trillion recorded a year ago.

The outstanding debt was equivalent to 99.5 percent of the government’s projected P19.77-trillion debt stock by the end of 2026.

For September alone, the government’s debt stock increased by P53.47 billion from the previous month.

Treasury data showed the current debt pile is now mostly made up of domestic debt with a 67.4-percent share, while external obligations accounted for 32.6 percent.

Domestic debt inched up by 0.07 percent to P13.25 trillion in end-September from P13.24 trillion in end-August.

“The increase was mainly due to the P7.66 billion net issuance of government securities, while peso depreciation against the dollar added P1.12 billion to the value of onshore dollar bonds,” the BTr said.

The peso weakened against the dollar to 62.601 as of end-September from 62.209 as of end-August, the BTr said.

Domestic debt also increased by 10.7 percent from P11.97 trillion in September 2025.

Total external obligations likewise increased by 0.7 percent to P6.41 trillion as of end-September from P6.37 trillion in end-August. The amount was nearly 17 percent higher than the P5.48 trillion booked in September 2025.

“The increase was mainly attributable to the P40.12 billion increase in the peso value of foreign-currency denominated debt due to peso depreciation against the dollar and the P9.27 billion net availment of external loans,” the Treasury said.