The national government’s outstanding debt surged 4.3 percent to P18.512 trillion in the first quarter, compared to the P17.739-trillion debt in the same period in 2016, according to the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr).
The BTr said domestic lenders accounted for the bulk of government’s outstanding debt, which expanded 3.3 percent to P11.905 trillion, from P11.515 trillion in 2016.
External debt, on the other hand, reached P6.605 trillion for the quarter, or 6.1 percent higher than the P6.223 trillion debt from foreign creditors last year.
Of the total, offshore debt from loans accounted for P2.547 trillion, and foreign debt securities amounted to
P4.058 trillion.
For March, the government’s outstanding debt settled at P6.189 trillion, shrinking by 0.3 percent, from the previous month’s P6.208 trillion, due to a stronger peso and debt repayments.
The outstanding debt for the month was also lower by 32.7 percent, compared to the P5.899-trillion outstanding debt in March 2016.
Of the total stock, 36 percent, or P2.222 trillion, were sourced externally, while 64 percent, or P3.968 trillion, were borrowed domestically.
“The decrease was predominantly due to the net redemption of government securities amounting to P17.69 billion and the stronger peso that reduced the value of onshore dollar bonds. It was tempered by the restoration of the national government’s assumed obligations under PNB [Philippine National Bank] amounting to P0.35 billion,” the BTr said in a statement.
The government’s guaranteed debt for the quarter reached P1.556 trillion, or 5.5 percent lower than the P1.647 trillion guaranteed debt in the same period in 2016.The government’s total guaranteed obligations decreased by P5.03 billion, or 1.0 percent month-on-month, to P516.80 billion in March, from P521.826 billion in February.
Year-on-year, the guaranteed debt shrunk 5.9 percent, from the P549.543 billion in the same month the previous year.
“The reduction in national government guarantees was primarily attributed to net repayments on both domestic and foreign guarantees amounting to P3.54 billion and P2.47 billion, respectively, alongside the P0.21 billion effect of peso appreciation. These outpaced the foreign-exchange revaluation adjustments on foreign guarantees [third currencies] amounting to P1.19 billion,” the BTr said.
Domestic guaranteed debt for the quarter amounted to P693.90 billion, while external guaranteed debt reached P863.82 billion.