PHILIPPINE GOVERNMENT DEBT HITS NEW RECORD OF P16.09 TRILLION IN NOVEMBER

The national government’s (ng) outstanding debt rose to a fresh high of P16.09 trillion as of end-November due to the impact of the peso depreciation (Photo courtesy of Philippine Star)

The Bureau of the Treasury (BoT) announced that the national government's total outstanding debt climbed to a new record high of P16.09 trillion as of the end of November 2024, from P70.7 billion in October.

This was P70.7 billion or 0.4 percent higher compared to the national debt at the end of October. Treasury said this was mainly due to net financing and the depreciation of the peso. “The peso depreciated against the US dollar from P58.198 as of end-October 2024 to P58.602 as of end-November 2024."

Data showed of the total debt stock, P10.92 trillion or 67.87 percent, was domestic debt. Foreign debt meanwhile made up P5.17 trillion or 32.13 percent of the total debt stock. The increase was said to be due to the P30.67-billion net issuance of domestic securities and P1.15-billion effect of the peso depreciation on dollar-denominated domestic debt.

Meanwhile, external debt totaled P5.17 trillion as of end-November, P38.88 billion or 0.8 percent higher compared to the month-earlier P5.13 trillion. The rise was a larger 12.4 percent, or P570.97 billion, from 2023's P4.6 trillion and 15.3 percent, or P684.99 billion, compared to the year-earlier P4.48 trillion.

Meanwhile, the government’s guaranteed obligations amounted to P422.04 billion as of end-November 2024, a 2.5% or P10.28 billion increase from end-October of the same year.

“This resulted from P8.95 billion in new domestic guarantees, as well as P1.85 billion in upward adjustments brought about by unfavorable foreign currency movement,” the BoT said.

The Marcos administration had planned to borrow a total of P2.57 trillion from creditors abroad and at home last year to plug its budget hole, which was estimated at P1.52 trillion or 5.7 percent of gross domestic product.

Those borrowings, in turn, were expected to push up the total outstanding debt of the government to P16.1 trillion by the end of 2024.

Source: ABS-CBN News

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