The national government’s debt stock has increased in January after the Aquino administration borrowed more during the period and the depreciation of the peso against the dollar, according to data.
Data from the Bureau of Treasury showed that the debt stock of the government increased by P23 billion to P4.741 trillion for the period compared with the end-December level.
Of the total debt, some 44 percent, or about P2.066 trillion, were owed from foreign creditors while the rest of the P2.675 trillion were from the domestic sources.
This means that each Filipino has about P50,427 in debt based on the country’s current population of about 94 million.
The Treasury data showed that the foreign-debt level increased by P66 billion from December as a result of the P55 billion in net availment and P11-billion depreciation of the peso against the dollar.
Domestic debt, meanwhile, decreased by P43 billion from the recorded end-December 2010 level due to the net redemption of government securities made by the Aquino administration.
Meanwhile, the contingent debt of the national government, comprised mainly of guarantees that it has issued was unchanged from the previous month’s level of P550 billion.
The government has predicted the debt stock to breach the P5-trillion mark by the end of the year after it announced earlier that the Aquino administration will borrow on behalf of government-owned and controlled corporations in a move to manage its financial obligations and save on borrowing cost.
The government has tapped the global financial markets for the second time this year in March, when it floated $1.5 billion worth of 15-year dollar-denominated bonds to lengthen the country’s debt profile and reduce interest costs.
The projected P5.135-trillion outstanding debt by end of the year would be equivalent to 55 percent of the total economic output as measured by the gross domestic product.
The government relies heavily on foreign and domestic borrowing to supplement its budget shortfall, targeted to hit about P300 billion for this year.
