The Philippine government’s total outstanding debt rose to P13.02 trillion as of the end of August, the Bureau of Treasury said on Friday, September 30.
Datsa of the bureau shows that the total debt is higher by P133.64 billion or 1 percent from July, and P1.29 trillion or 11 percent more than the level recorded in December 2021.
Read: PH debt breaches P12.79 trillion
The Bureau of Treasury said the “increment from the end-July 2022 level was attributed to the net issuance of domestic securities as well as currency adjustments.”
68.7 percent of the total debt was domestic borrowings which is currently at P8.94 trillion. While external debt was at 31.3 percent or P4.08 trillion.
The primary reason for Philippines debt was heavily due to the COVID-19 pandemic but economic manager said the government is committed to lower its debt-to-GDP ratio to below the 60-percent global standard under the administration of President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr.
Last week, PBBM stated during the ceremonial closing bell at the New York Stock Exchange last week that the debt-to-GDP ratio rose to as high as 63.5 percent but it settled at 62.1 percent as of the end of June.
Economists say that the Philippines won’t have to borrow too much in the coming months. However, the depreciation of the Philippine peso against the US dollar makes debt payment more challenging.
Read: Highest intraday rate of Philippine peso hits P59 against US dollar
Last June, economic think tank IBON Foundation said that if the government’s running debt pile of P12.5-trillion will be divided among the country’s 110 million population , each Filipino owes over P112,000 which will be paid in the form taxes, economic think tank IBON Foundation said.
Following the said computation considering the current total debt, each Filipino owes approximately P118, 364.
