THE PHILIPPINES’ running sovereign debt piled up further to a new record-high of P19.39 trillion at the end of July, as the government ramped up borrowing efforts to boost state coffers coupled with peso’s weakness which raise the valuation of same foreign currency-denominated obligations.
Data released by the Bureau of the Treasury on Thursday, September 3, showed the national government’s outstanding debt grew 1.7% or P323.53 billion from the P19.065-trillion level recorded at end-June 2026.
“The increase was primarily driven by the net availment of domestic and external debt, as well as the revaluation of foreign currency-denominated obligations following movements in the peso relative to the US dollar and other foreign currencies,” the Treasury said, noting that the peso depreciated against the greenback from P61.290:$1 as of end-June 2026 to P61.327:$1 as of end-July.
The bulk or 67.61% of the country’s debt stock was sourced locally, while the remaining 32.39% was from external sources.
The end-July debt stock is already at about 98% of the government’s P19.76-trillion debt level projection for the end of 2026.
Next year, the government is expecting the country’s sovereign debt to widen further to P21.48 trillion.
During the end-July period, domestic debt grew by 2.11% or P271.33 billion to P13.11 trillion from P12.84 trillion at end-June.
“The increase was mainly attributable to the P271.22 billion net issuance of government securities, with the remaining movement due to the slight upward revaluation of Onshore Dollar Bonds (ODBs),” the BTr said.
Foreign debt, on the other hand, amounted to P6.28 trillion, up 0.84% or P52.20 billion higher than the end-June level of P6.23 trillion.
“This was mainly due to P17.10 billion in net external loan availment, complemented by the higher peso value of foreign currency-denominated obligations following the depreciation of the peso against the US dollar and third currencies,” the Treasury said.
Coupled with a weaker economic growth in the first half of 2026 at 2.3%, the Philippines’ debt burden stood at 66% of gross domestic product (GDP) —a level seen in 1993, when it hit 66.9%, four years before the Asian Financial Crisis, and its highest in 22 years or since 2004, when it ended the year at 71.6% debt-to-GDP. (GMA News)
