The government’s outstanding debt jumped by P869 billion or 11.2 percent since the start of the year to reach P8.6 trillion as of end-April, the Bureau of Treasury said Tuesday.
Data showed that in April, government debt increased by P122.89 billion or 1.4 percent from the March level of P8.48 trillion as the government issued more domestic securities and availed of external loans to raise funds for coronavirus response efforts.
“To date, government debt grew by 11.2 percent for the first four months of the year driven by the 5.1-percent increase in external debt and the 14.4-percent increment to domestic liabilities,” it said.
The Treasury said that of the total outstanding debt stock, 33 percent was sourced externally and 67 percent was domestic debt.
Domestic debt increased by P736 billion or 14.4 percent since the start of the year to P5.8 trillion as of end-April, while foreign debt went up by P133 billion in the four-month period to P2.7 trillion as of end-April.
The BSP said net issuance of domestic government securities amounted to P50.82 billion in April while the peso appreciation diminished the value of onshore dollar bonds by P0.17 billion.
“For April, net availment of external loans amounted to P87.34 billion as part of the government’s effort to raise concessional financing to address the 2019 coronavirus disease pandemic,” the Treasury said.
Currency adjustments trimmed foreign debt by P15.10 billion, particularly through local currency appreciation.
Total government guaranteed obligations decreased by P4.14 billion or 0.9 percent month-on-month to P477.68 billion in April. The lower level of guarantees was due to the net redemption of both local and foreign guarantees amounting to P3.24 billion and P0.10 billion, respectively.
This was further trimmed by currency adjustments which reduced the value of external guarantees by P0.80 billion. Since the beginning of the year, NG guarantees has decreased by P11.06 billion or 2.3 percent, the Treasury said.
Data showed that on a year-on-year basis, the government’s outstanding debt surged by P813 billion or 10.4 percent from P7.786 trillion in April 2019.