The government’s outstanding debt escalated by P1.19 trillion, or 8.4 percent, to reach a record P15.35 trillion as of end-May 2024 on continued borrowings and depreciation of the peso, data from the Bureau of the Treasury show.
It said that on a month-on-month basis, debt increased by P330.39 billion, or 2.2 percent, from the end-April 2024 level of P15.02 trillion primarily due to the impact of local currency depreciation on the valuation of foreign-currency denominated debt.
The Treasury said of the total debt stock in May, 31.96 percent was external debt and 68.04 percent represented domestic debt.
Domestic debt went up by P134.34 billion, or 3.3 percent, to P10.44 trillion as of end-May from the previous month.
“The increase resulted from the P131.66 billion net issuance of government securities and P2.68 billion effect of peso depreciation on foreign-currency denominated domestic debt,” the Treasury said.
It said that since the beginning of the year, domestic debt has increased by P424.91 billion, or 4.2 percent. It also went up by P854.33 billion, or 8.9 percent, on a year-on-year basis.
Meanwhile, national government external debt reached P4.90 trillion as of end-May, P196.04 billion, or 4.2 percent higher than the end-April 2024 level of P4.70 trillion.
“For May, the increase in external debt can be attributed to P122.04 billion in net foreign loan availment and P76.94 billion in upward revaluation of US dollar-denominated debt,” the Treasury said.
Favorable third-currency movement provided a P2.94 billion downward revaluation effect.
Foreign debt also increased by P306.42 billion, or 6.7 percent, from its end-December 2023 level and by P339.15 billion, or 7.4 percent, from a year ago.
Government-guaranteed obligations decreased by P5.85 billion, or 1.6 percent, from the end-April 2024 level to P350.20 billion. The decline was due to net repayment on both domestic and external guarantees amounting to P4.36 billion and P3.55 billion, respectively.
Third-currency adjustments against the US dollar further trimmed P0.62 billion, dampening the P2.68 billion increment caused by peso depreciation against the US dollar.
The Treasury said that from the end-December 2023 level, government-guaranteed obligations increased by P760 million of 0.2 percent.