Philippine Gov't Debt Hits Record P19.1 Trillion

MANILA, Philippines — The national government’s outstanding debt rose to a new record high of P19.07 trillion as of end-June, overshooting its year-end projection, driven by net availment of both domestic and external borrowings, the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) said. Data from the Treasury showed that the debt stock breached the P19-trillion mark for the first time, up by 2.8 percent from P18.55 trillion in the previous month. It is also 0.04 percent higher than the expected P19.06 trillion debt by end-2026, according to the latest Budget of Expenditures and Sources of Financing document. “The P518.98 billion increase from the end-May 2026 level of P18.55 trillion was driven by the net availment of both domestic and external borrowings to fund national development,” the BTr said in a statement. “The favorable movement of the peso tempered the increase,” it added. The peso appreciated against the dollar to 61.290 as of end-June from P61.501 as of end-May. The bulk, or 67.3 percent, of the debt pile consisted of domestic borrowings, while the remaining 32.7 percent was sourced externally. Broken down, domestic debt increased by 2.7 percent to P12.84 trillion from the P12.5-trillion level in May. This was driven by P342.93 billion net issuance of government securities and a P600 million downward adjustment of onshore dollar bonds valuation brought about by the stronger peso. Year-on-year, domestic debt jumped by 7.4 percent from P11.95 trillion in June 2025. Foreign debt likewise, rose by 2.9 percent to P6.23 trillion from the end-May level of P6.05 trillion, mainly due to the net availment of external loans amounting to P223.11 billion. “Meanwhile, the appreciation of the peso against the US dollar and third currencies reduced the peso value of foreign currency-denominated obligations by P46.46 billion,” the BTr said. Annually, debt from foreign sources surged by 17.1 percent from P5.32 trillion in the same period last year.