Gov't debt jumps to $127.67 B in 2013

MANILA, Philippines (Xinhua) - The national government' s outstanding debt jumped by 4.5 percent to P5.681 trillion (about $127.67 billion) as of the end of 2013, but its share to the country's gross domestic product (GDP) declined, data released today by the Bureau of the Treasury showed.

"As a percentage of GDP, NG (National Government) debt dropped to 49.2 percent in 2013 from 51.5 percent in 2012 behind the government's proactive liability management efforts. Furthermore, external and domestic debt both fell to 16.9 percent and 32.3 percent of GDP from previous levels of 18.6 percent and 32.8 percent, respectively," the Bureau of the Treasury said.

The debt-to-GDP ratio is a measure of the state's capacity to settle obligations. It is also an indicator looked at by international institutions, such as credit rating agencies.

The Philippine government attributed the increase in outstanding debt to higher domestic obligations, with 66 percent of the total debt sourced from local creditors.

Data showed that the government's local loans increased by 7.6 percent year-on-year to P3.733 trillion ($83.89 billion). Meanwhile external debt fell by 1.1 percent from the previous year's level to P1.948 trillion ($43.78 billion).

"This is in line with the government's borrowing program which focused (on) domestic borrowing to manage foreign exchange risk and develop the domestic capital market while taking advantage of ample domestic liquidity," the bureau explained.

According to the Philippines' Budget of Expenditures and Sources of Financing for 2014, the national government's debt is seen to breach the 6-trillion-peso mark, hitting P6.322 trillion ($142.07 billion) by the end of this year.