MANILA: The latest data from the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) show state liabilities inched up by 0.41% or 68.89 billion peso (US$1.2bil) on a month-on-month basis.
Since the beginning of the year, the country’s debt has risen by 4.37% or 701.37 billion peso.
While the government had to incur more borrowings in April to plug its budget deficit, the BTr said a rallying peso helped minimise the growth of obligations.
The local currency has been gaining ground in the past weeks as US President Donald Trump’s erratic trade policies bruise confidence in the US dollar.
“The government continues to follow a disciplined debt strategy, ensuring that borrowings support productive investments while keeping fiscal sustainability,” the bureau said.
Broken down, domestic obligations, which accounted for 69.2% of the total debt load, went up by 1.85% to 11.59 trillion peso in April.
The BTr said the increase was driven by robust demand for government securities, including the 300 billion peso benchmark bonds that the state offered during the month.
The local currency’s appreciation also reduced the peso equivalent of US dollar-denominated domestic securities by 3.85 billion peso.
Meanwhile, external borrowings declined by 2.68% to 5.16 trillion peso because of the 124.74 billion peso decrease in the peso-value of foreign debt. — Philippine Daily Inquirer/ANN
