The national government’s debt-to-gross domestic product (GDP) ratio eased in the first quarter of the year, the Department of Finance (DOF) said yesterday.
In a statement, the DOF said the debt-to-GDP in the first three months of the year was 61 percent, down from 63.5 percent in the same period a year ago.
The said figure was reported following the release of the results of the Philippine economy’s first quarter performance which slowed down to a growth of 6.4 percent.
The government’s Medium-Term Fiscal Framework (MTFF) aims to bring down the debt-to-GDP ratio to less than 60 percent by 2025 then further down to 51.1 percent in 2028.
Meanwhile, the deficit-to-GDP ratio was 4.84 percent in the first quarter of 2023, down from 6.41 percent in the first quarter of 2022.
Under the MTFF, the government also seeks to reduce the budget deficit to three percent of GDP by 2028.
The DOF said the government is committed to a fiscal consolidation path and will continue the implementation of the government’s infrastructure development program of five to six percent of GDP annually.
“The sustained trajectory of the country’s output is a welcome development as we navigate through an uncertain global outlook,” Finance Secretary Benjamin Diokno said.
“With the strategies contained in the Philippine Development Plan 2023-2028, we can build a better environment that ensures a consistent path to sustainable and robust growth,” he added.
