The national government’s outstanding debt as of the end-January rose 2.6 percent to P5.90 trillion from P5.75 trillion year-on-year on increased foreign borrowings, the Treasury said Friday.
Data showed that local debt fell 0.1 percent year-on-year in January to P3.824 trillion from P3.828 trillion. The domestic debt accounted for the bulk of the national government’s borrowings, or 64.8 percent.
“For January, the decrease in domestic obligations was due to the net redemption of government securities amounting to P60.57 billion, offsetting the P300-billion upward adjustment in the peso value of foreign currency domestic liabilities due to peso depreciation,” the Treasury said.
External debt, meanwhile, jumped 7.9 percent to P2.076 trillion in January from P1.923 trillion on year. The end-January figure was 0.3 percent or P5.91 billion higher than the end-2015 level of P2.070 trillion.
“The increment in external obligations was due to the impact of peso weakness on dollar-denominated debt that raised the peso value by P23.49 billion,” the Treasury said.