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THE
country’s foreign debt stood at $54.6 billion at
end-March this year, up $600 million a year earlier, the
Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said on Monday.
Deputy
BSP Governor and officer in charge Armando Suratos said
the present level of external debt reflects an increase
over last year’s level as a percentage of local output,
or the gross domestic product (GDP).
This
year’s level of external borrowing is equivalent to 35.5
percent of the GDP from 44.2 percent a year earlier.
“The declining ratio indicates the country’s
improving capacity to service its maturing foreign
obligations,” Suratos said.
Measured against the gross national product
(GNP)—a broader yardstick on economic output—the foreign
debt was down to 32.4 percent of GNP from 40.8 percent
in the comparable period last year.
The country’s foreign debt also moved down
in absolute values from a peak of $57.39 billion in
2003, data from the BSP show.
Suratos said the country’s capacity to
generate foreign-exchange resources to pay down both
principal and interest has similarly improved.
The foreign debt is equivalent to 11 percent
of the total export of goods and services and income in
the first quarter, versus 12.5 percent a year earlier.
“The external debt-service ratio has
remained well below the 20-percent to 24-percent
international benchmark, indicating that the county has
sufficient foreign-exchange earnings to service maturing
principal and interest payments during the current
period,” Suratos said.
The BSP previously reported gross
international reserves, or GIR, of $36.6 billion in
March, enough to pay down 5.5 times the level of
short-term foreign debt based on original maturity and
3.4 times of the remaining maturity concept.
At the end of 2007, the GIR was 4.8 times of
short-term foreign debt on the basis of original
maturity and 2.9 times of the remaining maturity
concept, according to BSP data. |
