The external debt of the National Government (NG) slightly decreased by PHP69.6 billion or 1.6 percent to PHP4.2 trillion in end-November 2022 due to a stronger Peso, and net repayment.

The local currency appreciation had an impact of PHP107 billion, while the country’s net repayment amounted to PHP13.4 billion. A net repayment indicates that over a one-month period, the NG was able to pay its debt more than it had borrowed.

NG external debt makes up 30.9 percent of the total debt portfolio, which stood at PHP13.6 trillion by end-November 2022 or 0.02 percent higher than the preceding month. The slight increase is attributable to local currency appreciation against the US dollar on foreign currency loans. 

Meanwhile, domestic debt stood at PHP9.4 trillion, which is PHP72.7 billion or 0.78 percent higher compared to the previous month’s level. The net issuance of government securities, which are used to finance public expenditures, added PHP75.8 billion to the total domestic debt. Despite this, the appreciation of the Philippine peso helped trim PHP3 billion from the debt stock. 

NG domestic debt makes up 69.1 percent of the total debt stock with a year-to-date (YTD) increase of PHP1.3 trillion from its end-December 2021 level.

Total NG guaranteed obligations increased by PHP1.5 billion or 0.4 percent Month-over-Month (MoM) to PHP388 billion. The increase in November was due to the net availment of domestic guarantees amounting to PHP1 billion, and the net effect of currency fluctuations that increased the value of external guarantees by PHP0.4 billion. 

The total guaranteed debt remains lower by PHP35.9 billion or 8.5 percent compared to the end-December 2021 level.

 
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