THE Philippines’ outstanding debt stood at P14.62 trillion as of the end of 2023, nearly nine percent higher than in 2022, the Bureau of the Treasury (BOT) announced on Wednesday, January 31, 2024.
The BOT said the National Government’s debt is up by P1.20 trillion or 8.9 percent from the end-2022 level.
Of the total debt stock as of December 2023, 31.5 percent or P4.60 trillion are foreign borrowings, 2.54 percent or P114.02 billion higher as compared to the month prior, and 9.21 percent or P387.86 billion more than the end-December 2022.
The agency said the increase in the external debt from end of 2022 to the end of 2023 was due to the net availment of foreign debt valued at P88.24 billion, which includes $1 billion maiden issuance of Islamic bonds and disbursement of program loans from ADB amounting to $300 million.
The impact of third-currency adjustments against the US dollar also added P28.45 billion, which was slightly offset by the P2.67 billion as an effect of peso appreciation against the US dollar.
As for the domestic borrowings for the end-December 2023, it went up to P10.02 trillion or an increase of 8.79 percent or P809.54 billion from 2022 but .06 percent or P6.48 billion lower as compared to November 2023.
The decrease is primarily attributed to the net redemption of government securities.
“Gross issuance of domestic debt in December 2023 totaled P26.69 billion while principal payments amounted to P36.08 billion, resulting in a net repayment of P6.39 billion,” the BOT said.
“Meanwhile, the effect of local currency appreciation against the US dollar on debt stock valuation further trimmed P0.09 billion from the December total,” it added.
The BOT also noted the decrease in the guaranteed obligations of the National Government to P349.44 billion as of end-December, lower by P49.61 billion or 12.43 percent as compared in 2022.
It said it is due to the net repayment of domestic guarantees amounting to P7.57 billion.
“In addition, peso appreciation against the US dollar further trimmed P0.10 billion. These more than offset the P1.15 billion net availment for foreign guarantees and the P2.82 billion effects of third currency appreciation on similarly denominated guarantees for the month,” the agency said. (TPM/SunStar Philippines)