THE peso's depreciation has weighed on the national government's (NG) outstanding debt, which hit P15.02 trillion in April.
Some P91.5 billion was added to the debt tally — up from P14.92 trillion in March and now P1.1 trillion more than it was a year earlier and P401 billion higher reckoned from the start of the 2024 — but it was still lower than the record P15.18 trillion posted in February.
The month-on-month increase was mainly due to government net financing and the impact of local currency depreciation on the valuation of foreign-currency-denominated debt, the Bureau of the Treasury said on Thursday.
Of the total debt stock, 31.36 percent was borrowed abroad while 68.64 percent was sourced domestically.
Domestic borrowings totaled P10.31 trillion as of end-April, 0.3 percent higher compared to a month earlier.
"The increment resulted from the P27.23-billion net issuance of government securities and the P3.78-billion effect of peso depreciation on foreign-currency-denominated domestic debt," the Treasury said.
"Since the beginning of the year, domestic debt has increased by P290.57 billion or 2.90 percent while YoY (year-on-year) growth is P850.66 billion or 8.99 percent," it added.
External debt totaled P4.71 trillion, 1.30 percent or P60.49 billion higher month on month.
The increase was mainly due to a P109.31-billion rise in the local valuation of US dollar-denominated debt due to the peso's depreciation. This was partially offset, however, by a P15.91-billion drop from third currency debt adjustments.
Compared to the end of December 2023, external debt was P110.38 billion or 2.40 percent higher while year on year it rose by 5.74 percent or P255.42 billion.
Guaranteed obligations, meanwhile, rose by 2.89 percent or P1.02 billion to P356.06 billion as of end-April from a month earlier.
The increase was due to P7.54 billion in domestic guarantees and a P3.80-billion impact from the peso's depreciation, offset by P1.32 billion in third-currency adjustments.
Guaranteed debt picked up by 1.89 percent or P6.62 billion from the end of December but fell by 6.47 percent or P24.64 billion year on year.
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