The national government’s outstanding debt as of end-October stood at P14.48 trillion, the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) reported yesterday.
The government’s debt stock increased by 1.49 percent month-on-month, reflecting the net issuance and availment of domestic and external loans, as well as the revaluation effect of peso depreciation against the US dollar.
It also saw an increase of 6.16 percent year-on-year and 7.91 percent from the end-2022 level.
For domestic debt, the end-October 2023 level of P9.9 trillion is 1.73 percent higher from the previous month due to the net issuance of government securities.
Gross issuance of domestic debt for the month totaled P213.42 billion, while principal payments amounted to P45.68 billion, resulting in a net repayment of P167.75 billion.
The BTr said the effect of local currency depreciation against the US dollar on the debt stock valuation was minimal at only P0.23 billion.
Year-to-date, domestic debt registered an increase of 7.54 percent, while it went up 5.85 percent from the same period last year.
Meanwhile, the external debt of P4.58 trillion is 0.97 percent higher from the previous month.
For October, the BTr said the increase in external debt was due to the net availment of foreign loans amounting to P33.52 billion, and the P11.84 billion upward adjustment in valuation caused by peso depreciation against the US dollar.
Favorable movement of third currencies tempered the increase by P1.21 billion.
The foreign debt went up by 8.74 percent from the end-December 2022 level and 6.83 percent from the same period last year.
