MANILA, May 31 (NNN-PNA) – The Philippines’ debt soared to 15.02 trillion pesos (roughly 256.6 billion U.S. dollars) as of end-Apr, a 0.61 percent increase from end-March, the Philippines’ Bureau of Treasury said, yesterday.
The bureau attributed the rise of the national government’s debt level to government net financing, and the impact of local currency depreciation on the valuation of foreign-currency-denominated debt.
Of the total debt stock, the bureau said 31.36 percent was sourced externally, while 68.64 percent were domestic borrowings.
The bureau said, the country’s external debt amounted to 4.71 trillion pesos (80.49 billion dollars) in Apr, 1.30 percent higher than a month earlier.
Although there was net repayment in foreign loans within the month, the bureau said, the considerable depreciation of the peso caused upward adjustment in the local valuation of U.S. dollar-denominated debt, partly offset by the downward adjustment, brought about by the opposite movement of third currency debt.– NNN-PNA