PH debt hits new peak at P18.55T

The Philippine government’s outstanding debt rose to yet another peak in May after the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) took on more loans from domestic sources to meet financing needs despite pressures from the war.

Latest data from the BTr showed that outstanding debt as of end-May hit P18.55 trillion, up slightly by 0.41 percent from the P18.47 trillion logged in April.

This also surpassed the previous record-high of P18.49 trillion seen in March.

Based on the latest Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) population estimate of 112.33 million, each Filipino now owes roughly P165,000.

“The increase was primarily driven by the net incurrence of domestic securities as the government continued to raise funds to support financing needs, despite the ongoing Middle Eastern conflict,” the BTr said in a statement on Thursday.

“Meanwhile, the appreciation of the peso against the US dollar and other foreign currencies helped temper the increase,” it added.

Breaking down the report, domestic debt increased 0.65 percent to P12.5 trillion from P12.4 trillion the previous month.

This was driven by a P80.23-billion net issuance of Treasury bills and Treasury bonds.

Debt from foreign sources, meanwhile, dipped 0.07 percent to P6.05 trillion from P6.06 trillion on the back of a stronger peso against the dollar and other foreign currencies.

Although still above the key psychological level of P60 to $1, the peso strengthened to P61.50 as of end-May from P61.54 in end-April.

The Treasury said this generated a P18.91-billion downward valuation effect that offset the P14.9 billion in net foreign borrowings.

For 2026, the borrowing program has been set at P2.68 trillion. Of this, P2.05 trillion is expected to come from domestic sources and P627.1 billion from foreign creditors.

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This is expected to push the total debt stock above P19 trillion by year-end.

The borrowing plan is seen to help plug the revised budget deficit projection of P1.658 trillion, equivalent to 5.4 percent of gross domestic product.

After accounting for debt repayments, the government’s borrowing requirement is seen at P1.6 trillion, consisting of P1.2 trillion from local sources and P460.8 billion from external financing.

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