Public sector debt down 8.8% to P5T

The outstanding public sector debt went down by 8.8 percent to P5 trillion as of the first semester of 2006 from P5.483 trillion a year ago.

Data from the Department of Finance (DOF) show that as of June 2006, the total debt of the National Government and the government-owned and controlled corporations (GOCCs) was equivalent to 87.6 percent of gross domestic product (GDP).

Total domestic debt was recorded at P1.648 trillion, in the first half of 2006, down by 12.4 percent from a year ago level. Total foreign debt, on the other hand, amounted to P3.352 trillion last year,, falling by 6.9 percent from 2005 levels.

The DOF said the outstanding public sector debt was equivalent to 87.6 percent of GDP, falling from 89 percent as of March 2006 despite a one-percent quarter-on-quarter increase.

In contrast, the total public sector debt was equivalent to 107.8 percent of GDP in the second semester of 2005.

On a quarterly basis, the DOF said the total domestic debt increased by 1.7 percent whole foreign debt rose slightly by 0.6 percent.

The non-financial public sector debt reached P4.6 trillion, the DOF said, equivalent to 80.8 percent of GDP.

The DOF said that compared to the first quarter, there was a P36-billion increase in the obligations of the National Government as it continued to finance a budget gap.

Likewise, there was also a quarterly increase in the total obligations of the 14 monitored non-financial government corporations or MNFGCs, equivalent to P69.1 billion.

The National Government began cutting back on its foreign and domestic borrowing last year, even managing to prepay some of its obligations as the peso appreciated against the dollar and made some of its loans cheaper to settle.

The total debt of the National Government dipped by 2.3 percent to P3.928 trillion at the end of the third quarter as the peso strengthened against the dollar and the Arroyo administration managed to prepay some of its expensive obligations.

The Bureau of Treasury reported that total NG debt went down from P4.018 trillion last year and from P3.94 trillion in August this year.