MANILA – The country’s outstanding loans rose to a fresh high in June as the government continues to borrow more to finance its pandemic response measures.
Data from the Treasury Bureau published Thursday revealed the national debt stock reached P11.16 trillion by the end of the month, breaching the previous P11.07 trillion record high logged in May.
The latest figure is also a 23.3 percent jump from the P9.05 trillion figure recorded as of end-June last year.
Both local and foreign borrowings rose during the month compared to end-May’s levels, the bureau also observed.
Domestic loans reached P7.93 trillion as of end-June, 0.3 percent higher than the previous month’s tally due to the net issuance of government securities.
External loans, meanwhile, climbed 2.3 percent to P3.22 trillion month-on-month.
This was because of the “impact of local-currency depreciation against the United States Dollar amounting to P4.86 billion and net availment of foreign loans amounting to P25.52 billion,” the Treasury said. It added these were offset by the P18.27 billion drop in the peso value of loans denominated in other currencies like the euro and yen due to currency appreciation.
The government’s guaranteed obligations also went up by 2.8 percent in June, reaching P438.6 billion by the end of the month. The bureau said this was due to the net availment of P11.07 billion worth of local guarantees, along with the impact of local currency depreciation reaching P3.98 billion.
“Third-currency exchange rate fluctuations and net repayments were able to offset P1.48 billion and P1.56 billion respectively,” the bureau added.
Finance secretary Carlos Dominguez said in June that while the country’s debt level is high, it is still sustainable and could be managed in the years ahead.(CNN)
