Manila, Philippines — The outstanding debt of the Philippines ballooned to P16.31-trillion by the end of January 2025, says Bureau of the Treasury (BTr).
This is 1.63% higher, or equivalent to P261.47 billion of increase in the total debt of the country compared to December 2024, attributed to more government borrowings and peso depreciation.
In January, the value of peso had weakened to P58.375 from the P57.487 in the year-end of 2024.
67.9% of this total debt are domestic borrowings, equivalent to P11.08 trillion and reflects a 1.41% increase from the December 2024 borrowings.
This is attributed to the depreciation of peso against US dollar value, which resulted in an additional P1.51 billion in the January debt.
Meanwhile, external or foreign debt stood at P5.23 trillion at the end of January, showing a 2.1 increase from the previous month. This resulted from both new borrowings as well as peso depreciation versus dollar.
Similarly, the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) ratio of the Philippines in 2024 stood at 60.7% slightly higher than the 60.6% target GDP ratio of the country.
BTr noted that this debt level remains manageable with the economic development and fiscal sustainability efforts of the country.