By Justine Irish D. Tabile, Senior Reporter
The outstanding debt of the National Government (NG) rose to P18.49 trillion at the end of March, due to the depreciation of the peso, the Bureau of the Treasury said.
The latest data from the Treasury showed that the debt increased by 1.81% from P18.16 trillion at the end of February.
Year-on-year, outstanding debt increased by 10.81% from P16.68 trillion at the end of March 2025.
NG debt is the sum of money owed by the Philippine government to lenders such as international financial institutions, developing countries, banks, international bondholders and other investors.
“The increase was mainly due to the impact of the renewed depreciation of the peso against the US dollar, and the release of net domestic securities,” the Treasury said in a statement on Wednesday.
The majority or 67.8% of the total debt comes from domestic sources, while the rest is foreign loans.
Domestic debt, made up of government securities, rose 0.44% to P12.53 trillion at the end of March from P12.48 trillion at the end of February.
Year-on-year, it jumped 10.15% from P11.38 trillion.
According to BTr, the increase in internal debt “is mainly due to the release of the total amount of P46.72 billion of government funds.”
“Furthermore, the depreciation of the peso added P8.68 billion to the peso value of foreign currency denominated in local currency,” it added.
The peso closed at P60.748 against the dollar on March 31, weakening by P3.083 from its P57.665 close on February 27.
Meanwhile, external debt decreased by 4.81% to P5.95 trillion at the end of March from P5.68 trillion at the end of February.
Year-on-year, it increased by 12.24% from P5.3 trillion in the same period.
The treasury said the increase was “mainly due to the depreciation of the peso,” which increased the peso value of foreign currency obligations by P299.50 billion.
This was partially offset by “refunds of P2.55 billion and a decrease in third-party debt by P23.92 billion,” it added.
External debt is made up of P3 trillion in international bonds and P2.94 trillion in loans.
Guaranteed NG obligations increased by 0.37% to P381.41 billion as of the end of March from P379.98 billion last month.
“The movement was influenced by the impact of the depreciation of the peso on the balance of foreign guarantees, which added P4.53 billion,” BTr said.
The increase, however, was achieved by the net payment of domestic and foreign guarantees, which reduced the debt level by P760 million and P1.50 billion, respectively.
“Furthermore, the favorable third-party liquidity provided another P840 million offset,” he said.
Year-on-year, guaranteed liabilities increased by 12.23% from P339.86 billion.
NG’s outstanding debt is expected to reach P19.06 trillion by the end of 2026 under the 2026 Expenditure and Financing Sources Budget.
Under the Medium Term Fiscal Framework 2022-2030, revised in October 2025, the government wants to reduce the debt to gross domestic product (GDP) ratio to 58% by 2030.
Last year, the debt-to-GDP ratio rose to 63.2%, the highest annual rate in two decades or since 65.7% recorded in 2005.
First quarter GDP data and the debt-to-GDP ratio will be released on Thursday (May 7).
