National debt up 11.4% to P2.44T

The national debt went up by 11.4 percent as of February from P2.188 trillion last year to P2.437 trillion as the government frontloaded its foreign borrowings during the first two months of the year.

Data from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) indicated that domestic borrowings by the National Government went up by 12.3 percent from P1.133 trillion last year to P1.272 trillion this year while foreign borrowings increased by 10.5 percent from P1.054 trillion to P1.164 trillion.

According to the BSP, the National Government’s direct domestic loans amounted to P1.259 trillion, up by 12.9 percent from P1.116 trillion last year. On the other hand, assumed loans went down dramatically by 25.4 percent from P18.544 million to P13.825 million.

The BSP figures also indicated that direct foreign debt was virtually unchanged, going up by 0.6 percent from P620 billion to P623.911 billion while assumed foreign debt went down by 12.2 percent from P12.058 billion to P10.58 billion.

In comparison, foreign borrowings in the form of foreign–denominated securities went up significantly by 25.6 percent as the Philippines began regaining access to the foreign bond market.

US dollar-denominated securities went up by 20 percent from P366 billion to P439 billion while Euro Bonds went up by 197 percent from P15 billion to P46 billion.

The country’s foreign debt has been increasing over the last few months, sustaining the trend set in 2001 when it rose slightly from $52.06 billion in 2000 to $52.36 billion as of end 2001 despite the slight decline in December due to the strengthening of the dollar against other currencies.

According to the BSP, the country’s total outstanding external debt approved by and registered with the central bank in 2001 was down by $71 million from the September level of $52.43 billion, BSP said.

The public sector’s share of total debt, according to the BSSP, declined to 66.4 percent as of end-December from 64.6 percent in September 2001 and 66.1 percent in December.

The public sector consisted of the National Government, the BSP, other government financial institutions (GFIs) and government-owned and controlled corporations (GOCCs).

As public sector foreign borrowing declined, the BSP said there was a corresponding increase in the share of the private sector to total foreign debt.