The National Government’s (NG) total outstanding debt increased to P14.35 trillion as of end-August 2023.
The P105.28 billion or 0.7% increment from the previous month’s level was primarily due to the peso depreciating from 54.834 to 56.651 against the US dollar over the reference period.
Of the total debt stock, 31.8% are from external sources while 68.2% are from domestic borrowings.
Domestic debt as of end-August 2023 settled at P9.79 trillion P21.24 billion or 0.2% lower than the previous month due to large retail bond maturities.
New domestic debt issued during the month totaled P229.29 billion with debt redemption of P253.43 billion[1], resulting in a net repayment of P24.14 billion.
This was partially offset by the P2.90 billion incremental value caused by peso depreciation on foreign currency denominated domestic securities.
From the end-December 2022 level, NG domestic debt has increased by P582.74 billion or 6.3%.
External debt of P4.56 trillion was P126.52 billion or 2.9% higher month-over-month
(MoM), mainly because of the weaker peso.
Peso depreciation against the US dollar caused a P146.85 billion upward revaluation of US dollar-denominated debt in August, although partially offset by the P22.11 billion downward revaluation of the third currency debt component.
Net availment of foreign loans also added P1.78 billion to the reference month’s external debt stock. NG external debt has increased by P347.98 billion or 8.3% from the end-December 2022 level.
Total NG guaranteed obligations rose by P3.18 billion or 0.9% MoM to P366.58 billion as of end-August 2023. The higher level of guaranteed debt is attributed to the net availment of domestic guarantees amounting to P2.44 billion and the P4.03 billion revaluation effect of peso depreciation on external guarantees surpassing the P3.29 billion in repayments.
YTD NG guaranteed obligations have decreased by P32.47 billion or 8.1% from the end-December 2022 level.
[1] Includes 10-year Retail Treasury Bond maturities of P141.42 billion.
