PHL debt hits P11.73 trillion as of end-December 2021

The National Government’s (NG) total outstanding debt stood at P11.73 trillion as of end-December 2021, according to the Bureau of Treasury.

For December, the NG’s total debt decreased by P203.28 billion or 1.7% primarily due to the net redemption of domestic securities.

Year-over-year growth was registered at 19.7%, lower than the 26.7% last year due to better fiscal performance and lower financing requirements.

Of the total debt stock, 30.3% was sourced externally while 69.7% were domestic borrowings.

The debt-to-GDP ratio was registered at 60.5%, rising from 54.6% a year ago but still within the accepted sustainable threshold as the economy continues to recover from the effects of the pandemic.

NG domestic debt amounted to P8.17 trillion, which is P271.09 billion or 3.2% lower compared to the end-November 2021 level as the repayment of the P540.00 billion provisional advance from the BSP outpaced the net issuance of government securities.

Nevertheless, domestic debt grew by P1.48 trillion or 22.0% for the year in line with the domestic borrowing program which favors domestic issuance to mitigate foreign exchange risk and support local capital market development.

NG external debt of P3.56 trillion was P67.81 billion or 1.9% higher from the previous month.

For December, the increment in external debt was attributed to the impact of Peso depreciation[i] against the USD amounting to P40.87 billion and the net availment of external obligations amounting to P33.83 billion.

These more than offset the effects of adjustments in other foreign currencies amounting to P6.89 billion.

From the start of the year, external debt has increased by P457.82 billion or 14.8%, of which 6.6% can be attributed to Peso depreciation.

Total NG guaranteed obligations increased by P6.07 billion or 1.5% month-over-month to P423.92 billion in December.

The higher level of guaranteed debt was due to the net availment of domestic guarantees amounting to P5.99 billion and the effect of Peso depreciation against the USD amounting to P2.68 billion.

However, net repayment of external guarantees and net depreciation of third-currency denominated guarantees against the US dollar trimmed P1.06 billion and P1.54 billion, respectively.

Year-over-year, NG guaranteed obligations decreased by P34.43 billion or 7.5% from its December-2021 level.

[i] The peso depreciated against the USD from P50.384 as of end-Nov 2021 to P50.974 as of end-Dec 2021.