The government’s debt neared the P14-trillion mark in April due to higher foreign borrowings and the depreciation of the Philippine peso against the United States dollar, data from the Bureau of the Treasury or BTr showed.
The BTr on Wednesday said the country’s liabilities reached P13.91 trillion in April, up 0.4 percent or by P54.24 billion from the previous month.
Of the total debt stock, 68 percent consisted of domestic borrowings while 32 percent came from foreign debt or external borrowings.
In April, domestic borrowings declined month-on-month to P9.46 trillion or 0.6 percent after the government paid P57.79 billion to local creditors.
“This was slightly offset by the P2.47 billion effect on onshore foreign currency-denominated securities caused by the peso depreciation against the US dollar,” the treasury bureau said.
Meanwhile, the country’s external liabilities in April soared month-on-month to P4.45 trillion due to the addition of foreign loans worth P27.98 billion.
The BTr said the country’s liabilities reached P13.91 trillion in April, up 0.4 percent or by P54.24 billion from the previous month.
The peso’s depreciation against the US dollar pushed up the value of external debts by P94.28 billion.
To recall, the Philippine peso depreciated against the US dollar in April and reached the P56 to $1 level during the month.
“For April, the increment to external debt was due to the P27.98 billion net availment of external loans and P94.28 billion impact of local-currency depreciation against the US dollar,” BTr said.
“On the other hand, third-currency adjustments against the US dollar trimmed P12.30 billion from the peso value of foreign currency debt,” the agency added.
Meanwhile, the government’s guaranteed obligations decreased by P3.42 billion or 0.9 percent month-on-month to P380.69 billion as of end-April 2023.
For the month, the lower level of guaranteed debt was due to the net repayment of domestic guarantees amounting to P5.51 billion and third-currency adjustments amounting to P1.87 billion.
“These were tempered by the impact of local currency depreciation amounting to P3.95 billion,” the Treasury said.
“From the end-December 2022 level, the national government guaranteed debt has decreased by P18.35 billion or 4.6 percent,” it added.