Philippine debt at P16.090 trillion in Nov. 2024, up 10% from year before

The Philippine government’s total outstanding debt as of end-November was 10% higher year-on-year, data released by the Bureau of the Treasury  (BTr) on Tuesday showed.

Data from the BTr showed that the total outstanding debt stood at P16.090 trillion as of end-November 2024, reflecting a 10.9% increase from the P14.508 trillion as of end-November 2023. It is also 0.4% higher than the P16.020 trillion as of end-October 2024.

“The debt portfolio increased… due to net financing and the impact of local currency depreciation on the valuation of foreign-currency-denominated debt,” the BTr said in an accompanying statement.

The peso ended November at P58.602:$1, weaker than the P58.198:$1 as of end-October 2024.

Domestic debt stood at P10.921 trillion, marking a 9.0% increase from P10.024 trillion in November 2023. This was attributed to the P30.67-billion net issuance of domestic securities, and the P1.15-billion impact of the peso depreciation on US dollar-denominated debt.

The external debt was recorded at P5.169 trillion, up by 15.3% from P4.484 trillion the previous year, and 0.8% higher than the P5.130 trillion as of end-October.

“The significant depreciation of the peso led to a P35.61-billion escalation in the local valuation of US dollar-denominated debt while net foreign loan availments added P8.33 billion,” the BTr said.

“Meanwhile, favorable third-currency movements relative to the US dollar reduced external debt by P5.06 billion,” it added.

Obligations guaranteed by the national government totaled P422.04 billion, up by 2.5% from the previous month. This came as new domestic guarantees stood at P8.95 billion, and P1.85-billion in upward adjustments due to unfavorable foreign currency movements. This was slightly offset by the P0.52-billion repayment of external guarantees. — BM, GMA Integrated News