THE Philippine government’s outstanding debt reached P16.090 trillion by the end of November 2024, reflecting a 10.9% increase from the P14.508 trillion recorded in the same period the previous year, according to data released by the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) on Tuesday.
The debt figure also represents a slight 0.4% increase from the P16.020 trillion recorded at the end of October 2024.
The BTr attributed the increase in debt to a combination of net financing and the depreciation of the peso, which impacted the valuation of foreign-currency-denominated debt.
The peso ended November at P58.602 to the US dollar, weaker than the P58.198:$1 rate at the end of October.
Domestic debt rose to P10.921 trillion, marking a 9.0% increase from P10.024 trillion in November 2023.
This was driven by P30.67 billion in net issuances of domestic securities, along with a P1.15-billion effect of the peso’s depreciation on US dollar-denominated debt.
External debt reached P5.169 trillion, up by 15.3% from the P4.484 trillion recorded in November 2023, and 0.8% higher than the P5.130 trillion at the end of October.
The peso’s significant depreciation led to a P35.61-billion rise in the local valuation of US dollar-denominated debt.
Additionally, net foreign loan availments added P8.33 billion to the total, while favorable third-currency movements relative to the US dollar resulted in a reduction of external debt by P5.06 billion.
Guaranteed obligations of the national government totaled P422.04 billion, a 2.5% increase from the previous month.
This increase was attributed to new domestic guarantees of P8.95 billion and P1.85 billion in upward adjustments due to unfavorable foreign currency movements, slightly offset by a P0.52-billion repayment of external guarantees.