PHL gov’t debt balloons to record P8.6T in April

The national government’s outstanding debt widened to a new record-high of P8.6 trillion as of end-April, data released by the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) showed Tuesday.

The government’s end-April outstanding debt is 1.5% or P122.89 billion higher compared to end-March’s level at P8.477 trillion.

The Treasury attributed the increase primarily to “domestic securities issuance and external loan availments.”

Year-on-year, the government debt grew 11.2% driven by 5.1% in foreign debt and 14.4% domestic liabilities.

Of the total outstanding debt stock, 33% were sourced externally while 67% are domestic debt.

Domestic debt amounted to P5.863 billion, up P50.65 billion or 0.9% from P5.812 trillion in end-March.

“The end-March figure was subsequently adjusted to reflect the P300 billion short-term borrowing through the repurchase agreement with the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP),” the BTr said.

For April, net issuance of domestic government securities amounted to P50.82 billion while peso appreciation merely diminished the value of onshore dollar bonds by P170 million, according to the Treasury.

The BTr noted that the peso appreciated against the US dollar from P50.780:$1 for end-March to P50.444:$1 as of end-April.

To date, domestic debt has increased by P735.92 billion or 14.4% since the beginning of the year as a result of net debt issuance and the short-term borrowing from BSP.

External debt, meanwhile, stood at P2.736 trillion. It is P72.24 billion or 2.7% higher compared to end-March level at P2.664 trillion.

Net availment of external loans amounted to P87.34 billion as part of the government’s effort to raise concessional financing to address the 2019 coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, according to the Treasury.

Year-to-date, external debt has increased by 5.1% or P133.10 billion.

Despite the increasing government debt, the cost of liabilities relative to the size of the economy remained at a manageable level of 41.8% as of the first quarter. 

A lower debt-to-GDP ratio is generally seen as favorable, as it indicates that the country is able to repay its debts. —LDF, GMA News