THE national government’s (NG) outstanding debt fell in April as domestic payments offset the impact of a weaker peso on the country’s foreign obligations.
Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) data showed outstanding debt at P18.47 trillion as of the end of the month, down by P17.54 billion, or 0.09 percent, from the P18.49 trillion recorded in March.
“The decline in debt was primarily driven by the government’s repayment of domestic securities, which more than offset the impact of peso depreciation against the United States dollar on foreign currency-denominated obligations,” the Treasury said.
Despite the month-on-month decline, outstanding debt was 10.25 percent higher than the P16.75 trillion recorded in April last year and was up 4.31 percent from the end-2025 level of P17.71 trillion.
Domestic obligations continued to account for the bulk of the government’s debt portfolio, representing 67.22 percent of total outstanding debt, while external borrowings made up the remaining 32.78 percent.
Local debt dropped to P12.42 trillion, down by 0.95 percent from the month-earlier P12.53 trillion. It was, however, higher than the previous year’s P11.59 trillion.
“The decline was mainly due to the P121.64 billion net redemption for the month, as P283.24 billion in debt issuance was offset by maturities of P404.88 billion,” the Treasury said.
“A P2.46 billion valuation increase in the peso equivalent of foreign currency-denominated domestic securities from peso depreciation partially tempered the decline,” it added.
In contrast, external debt increased by P101.64 billion, or 1.71 percent, to P6.06 trillion from P5.95 trillion a month earlier due to peso depreciation.
“Revaluation of foreign currency-denominated obligations amounted to P101.72 billion due to the weaker peso against the US dollar and third-currency movements,” the Treasury said.
Guaranteed obligations rose slightly to P383.23 billion as of end-April, up by P1.82 billion, or 0.48 percent, from the end-March level of P381.41 billion.
“The increase was driven by the effect of peso depreciation and third-currency movements on the valuation of external guarantees amounting to P1.25 billion and P0.62 billion, respectively,” the BTr said.
Partially offsetting the increase were repayments made by the National Home Mortgage Finance Corp. and the National Power Corp., which reduced domestic guaranteed obligations by P0.05 billion.
Compared with the end-December 2025 level of P344.57 billion, guaranteed obligations were higher by P38.65 billion or 11.22 percent.
