The burden of public debt shifts to P7.16T

While the peso fell to its lowest level in 13 years last month, the country's outstanding debt reached a new high, at 7.16 billion pesetas from September, announced on Friday. government.

The national government bonds at the end of the first nine months rose 0.8% from 7.1 billion pesos a month ago and 11.1% to 6.4 billion billion a year ago , according to the latest data from the Treasury Office.

Of this total, 64.1%, or 4.559 billion pesetas, came from local sources, which represents an increase of 0.3% over one month and 9.5% over one year.

"The [month-on-month] The increase in domestic debt is due to the net issuance of public securities amounting to 14.54 billion pesos and the depreciation of the peso, which has had the effect of increasing the value of onshore bonds in US dollars. 310 million pesetas, "explained the Treasury.

The Treasury noted that the peso weakened against the greenback at 54,102 last month against 53,475 in August.

The Cabinet-level Inter-Agency Development Budget Coordination Committee (DBCC) this month projected the peso-dollar exchange rate at an average of 52.50-53 to 1 USD this year and 52- 55 to 1 USD from next year until 2022, a higher range than the previous 50-53.

The peso slid to its lowest level in 13 years, amid concerns over the widening current account deficit, a component of the country's balance of payments.

At the end of June, the current account deficit reached $ 3.1 billion, or 1.9% of gross domestic product, compared to $ 133 million or only 0.1% of gross domestic product (GDP) a year ago, mainly thanks to a larger trade. goods deficit, as imports maintained strong growth while merchandise exports declined.

At the same time, external debt also increased 1.6% from the previous month and 14% to 27 billion dollars in September.

"The increase in external debt is explained by the net external borrowing availabilities of £ 22.52 billion and the impact of the depreciation of the local currency against the US dollar. , 68 billion pounds sterling. This decline was slightly offset by the net depreciation of the debt denominated in third currency, which amounts to 11.13 billion pesos Pakistan, "said the Treasury.

Last Monday, the Finance Secretary, Carlos G. Dominguez III, told the Senate Finance Committee that "with a sustainable fiscal policy and prudent debt management, we expect that the ratio from debt to GDP continues its trajectory downward, from 42.1% in 2017 to 38.6% in 2022. "

The debt-to-GDP ratio measures the share of government bonds outstanding with respect to economic growth.

The latest data from the Ministry of Finance show that the ratio of gross national public debt to GDP was 42.5% in June, the same rate as one year ago, but slightly higher than the end of 2017.

"This will be supported by a financing program that will continue to favor domestic borrowing, after a mix of 65:35 in 2018 and a mix of 75:25 between 2019 and 2022. Our proactive liability management program has reduced debt burden of our budget. , creating more tax space to finance social commitments, "said Dominguez.

For his part, Budget Secretary Benjamin E. Diokno said last week at the Euromoney Philippines Investment Forum that the Philippine economy had a "solid" credit profile that "drew the Credit rating agencies' attention.

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