Government debt bloats to P7.8-T in March

MANILA, Philippines — The state’s outstanding debt ballooned to a new high as of end-March due to “currency adjustments” and following the issuance of new debt papers, the Bureau of the Treasury reported Monday.

In a statement, the BTr said the national government’s debt stood at P7.8 trillion in March, P350.7 billion or 4.7% higher than the previous month’s P7.5 trillion and up P923.37 billion or 13.4% from P6.9 trillion a year ago.

Broken down, domestic loans amounted to P5.2 trillion, P298.64 billion or 6.1% bigger than the preceding month. The government borrowed a total of P2.61 trillion from external creditors in March, P52.1 billion or 2% than February's level.

According to the treasury bureau, the peso depreciated from P51.769 as of end-February 2019 to P52.629 as of end-March 2019

“For the month, the increment in the level of domestic debt was caused by the net issuance of government securities amounting to P298.21 billion and the P0.43 billion revaluation of onshore dollar bonds brought about by peso depreciation,” the BTr explained.

“The higher external debt for the month was principally due to the impact of local currency fluctuation against the US dollar amounting to P42.42 billion and net availment of foreign loans amounting to P11.00 billion,” it added.

The government borrows from local and foreign sources to fund its budget deficit, which for this year is capped at 3.2% of the country’s gross domestic product. — Ian Nicolas Cigaral