The national government’s total debt grew by 14.4 percent to P13.42 trillion last year from P11.73 trillion in 2021, data released by the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) showed.
Of the total outstanding debt as of end-2022, domestic debt accounted for 68.6 percent or P9.2 trillion, while external debt made up the remaining 31.4 percent or P4.2 trillion.
Total NG guaranteed obligations increased by P11.1 billion or 2.8 percent month-over-month to P399.1 billion due to the net availment of domestic guarantees and the net effect of currency fluctuations, which increased the value of external guarantees.
Compared to the end-December 2021 level, the total NG guaranteed debt dropped by P24.9 billion or 5.9 percent.
For December 2022, the NG’s total outstanding debt also took a favorable decrease by 1.7 percent or P225.3 billion due to local currency appreciation and net redemption of domestic government securities.
The lower level of domestic debt was due to the net redemption of government securities amounting to P217.95 billion. Moreover, local currency appreciation against the US dollar trimmed P1.63 billion from the peso value of foreign currency denominated domestic debt.
The country’s debt management strategy prioritizes the domestic market over external sources to protect the country against foreign exchange risk.
Fluctuations in exchange rates run the risk of increasing debt service payments each time the peso depreciates.
With the release of the full-year gross domestic product (GDP), the debt-to-GDP ratio was registered at 60.9 percent for end-2022, improving from 63.7 percent as of end-Q3 2022 and lower than the 61.8 percent target presented in the medium-term fiscal framework (MTFF).
