The national government’s outstanding debt has reached P12.09 trillion as of end-February, data released by the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) showed.
According to the BTr, the total debt rose by 16.2 percent from the year ago level of P10.41 trillion, and 0.5 percent up from the month ago level of P12.03 trillion.
The BTr said the month-on-month increase was due to currency fluctuations and net financing from both local and external sources.
Of the total debt stock, 30.4 percent was sourced externally while 69.6 percent were domestic borrowings.
The national government’s domestic debt amounted to P8.41 trillion, which was 14.3 percent up versus the previous year’s level of P7.36 trillion, and 0.5 percent higher compared to the end-January 2022 level of P8.37 trillion.
The month-on-month increase was primarily due to net issuance of domestic government securities, the BTr said.
Meanwhile, the external debt of P3.68 trillion is 21 percent up from the end-February 2021 level of P3.04 trillion. It also rose by 0.5 percent from the previous month’s P3.66 trillion.
“For February, the increment in external debt was due to the impact of peso depreciation against the US dollar amounting to P17.91 billion and the net availment of external obligations amounting to P3.25 billion,” the BTr said.
“These more than offset the P2.74 billion reduction caused by adjustments in other foreign currencies,” it added.
As of last year, the national government’s outstanding debt stood at P11.73 trillion, with the debt-to-gross domestic product ratio registered at 60.5 percent, rising from 54.6 percent a year ago but “still within the accepted sustainable threshold” as the economy continues to recover from the effects of the pandemic.
For end-2022, the national government has an outstanding debt program of P13.42 trillion.