A WEAK peso continued to weigh on the national government’s (NG) outstanding debt, which ballooned to a new record high of P15.48 trillion in June.
A total of P135.90 billion was added to the debt tally from May’s P15.35 trillion, the Treasury bureau reported on Tuesday, and the count was also P1.3 trillion higher than year-earlier P14.15 trillion.
The rise was attributed to the “net issuance of both domestic and external debt and the effect of peso depreciation.”
The currency weakened to P58.658 against the dollar as of end-June from P58.524:$1 a month earlier.
Meanwhile, third currency depreciation of corresponding debt denominated in those currencies helped temper the rise in outstanding NG debt.
Of the total debt stock, 31.71 percent was borrowed abroad while 68.29 percent was sourced domestically.
Domestic debt hit P10.57 trillion as of end-June, higher than the P10.44 trillion in May and the year-earlier P9.7 trillion.
The month-on-month increase was attributed to the net issuance of P129.89 billion in government securities and the P390-million impact from the peso’s fall on foreign currency-denominated domestic debt.
Compared to the end of December 2023, domestic debt was P555.19 billion or 5.5 percent higher while year on year, it was P870.29 billion or 9.0 percent higher.
External debt, meanwhile, totaled P4.91 trillion as of the first half, 0.1 percent or P5.62 billion higher month on month from the P4.905 trillion as of end-May.
The rise was a larger 6.8 percent, or P312 billion, from December’s P4.598 trillion and 10.5 percent, or P465.36 billion, up from the year-earlier P4.445 trillion.
“The increment is attributed to P7.95 billion in net availment and the P11.23-billion upward revaluation of US dollar-denominated debt due to peso depreciation,” the Treasury said.
“This was partially offset by the P13.56-billion effect of favorable third-currency adjustments,” it added.
Guaranteed obligations, meanwhile, fell by 1.9 percent or P6.56 billion to P343.65 billion as of end-June from a month earlier.
The decline was said to be due to the net repayment of both domestic and external guarantees amounting to P5.02 billion and P730 million, respectively.
“Additionally, the impact of third-currency adjustments against the US dollar amounting to P1.18 billion was able to offset the P0.37-billion increase caused by peso depreciation,” the Treasury said.
Guaranteed debt was 1.7 percent, or P5.79 billion, lower from the end of December last year and also fell by 7.1 percent, or P26.08 billion, year on year.
Outstanding NG debt is expected to hit P16.06 trillion this year, up from the previous projection of P15.84 trillion.
The projection for 2025 is P17.35 trillion, with domestic debt seen accounting for the bulk at P11.98 trillion.
The remaining P5.38 trillion will come from external debt.
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