MANILA, Philippines – The Philippine debt rose to P14.51 trillion at the end of November 2023 due to the government increasing its local borrowing.
In November 2023, the Bureau of the Treasury reported that the state’s total debt rose by P27.92 billion from the previous month, reaching P14.51 trillion.
“New domestic debt issued during the month amounted to P171.091 billion, while principal redemption totaled P45.14 billion, resulting in a net issuance of P125.95 billion,” the Treasury stated.
In November, the lower external debt level resulted from the net repayment of foreign loans totaling P1.08 billion and positive foreign exchange movements. According to the Treasury, the P109.37 billion decrease, attributed to peso appreciation against the US dollar, significantly outweighed the P16.30 billion increase linked to third-currency appreciation.
Over the year, liabilities increased by 8.12 percent, or P1.09 trillion. Budget department records suggest that the Marcos administration expected the total debt to reach P14.62 trillion by the end of 2023.
At the end of November, the national government’s domestic debt was P10.02 trillion, a 1.23 percent increase from October. This increase was due to the net issuance of government securities, as per the Treasury.
Foreign debt, on the other hand, was at P4.48 trillion, a decrease of P94.15 billion, or 2.06 percent from the previous month. However, compared to December 2022, foreign debt increased by P323.8 billion, a 7.7 percent rise.
Rizal Commercial Banking Corp.’s chief economist, Michael Ricafort, noted in an email analysis that the increased debt during this period resulted from new government borrowings to address the ongoing budget deficits since the beginning of 2023.
Domestic sources accounted for 69.09% of the total debt, with the remaining 30.91% coming from foreign sources. Since the start of 2023, domestic debt has increased by P816.02 billion, according to the data.
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