The Philippine government has an outstanding debt of P12.79 trillion for the first half of 2022. This is according to the data released by the Bureau of Treasury.
This is up by 14.6% compared to the debt last year.
Of the total debt stock, 31.5% was sourced externally while 68.5% were domestic borrowings.
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The national government debt stood at ₱5.94 trillion as of end-June 2016, when then President Rodrigo Duterte also assumed the presidency.
Finance Chief Ben Diokno previously downplayed the rising debt.
He also pointed out that the Philippines was not among the nations with high probability of defaulting from its debt.
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“The fiscal and monetary authorities are in control. The debt-to-GDP ratio is manageable. The banking system is sound and more than adequately capitalized; the NPL [non-performing loan] which is low, continues to fall,” Diokno said in a Manila Bulletin report.
The country also has enough buffers to address debt.
“Our external sector remains robust: GIR is more than enough and there is a steady structural inflows of foreign exchange: Overseas Filipino remittances, BPO receipts, rising exports,” Diokno said.
