Government debts grew to P6.37T in April

By Riza Lozada

An increase in domestic borrowings bumped up the national government’s (NG) outstanding debt in April by 8.3 percent to P6.37 trillion, Bureau of Treasury (BTr) data showed. 

Government liabilities were mainly made up of domestic debts, which amounted to P4.16 trillion, up 10.4 percent from P3.77 trillion a year ago.

Bulk of the local debts are accounted for by the issuance of government securities, which increased by 10.4 percent to P4.16 trillion.

Last March, the BTr gained P181 billion from the issuance of three-year Retail Treasury Bonds (RTBs), which fetched a coupon rate of 4.25 percent.

Loans in the first four months of the year totaled to P948 billion, up 58.5 percent percent from P598 billion a year ago.

BTr said higher domestic borrowings was cushioned by the strength of the peso, which limited the rise in the value of US dollar debt instruments.

Outstanding external debt during the period reached P2.21 trillion, up 4.5 percent from the P2.11 trillion in April 2016.

The latest figure was based on a 49.90 per dollar rate of the peso, up from the 46.88 per dollar during the same period in 2016.

Debt securities issued abroad primarily accounted for the most of liabilities sourced overseas after it reached P1.36 trillion, 5.2 percent higher than the P1.3 trillion in April 2016.

Loans extended by external fund sources totaled P847.3 billion, 3.5 percent up from the P818.85 billion same period last year.

BTr said strength of the local currency during the period cushioned the impact of appreciation of third currency-denominated debt during the period.

Outstanding liabilities guaranteed by the NG reached P495.08 billion as of last April, down 12.3 percent compared to the P564.5 billion same period last year.

Total domestic guaranteed liabilities amounted to P209.29 billion while guarantees for foreign liabilities reached P285.8 billion.

Guarantees for domestic debt fell 17.1 percent from year-ago’s P252.3 billion and by 8.5 percent for external debt from the P312.2 billion in April 2016.

The decline was traced to the government’s net repayments of its domestic guarantees and the appreciation of the peso as well as third currencies.