MANILA, Philippines — The government’s outstanding debt hit a new record high in March driven primarily by a weaker peso and net issuance of domestic securities.
At P18.49 trillion, outstanding debt grew by P328.43 billion in March, or 1.81 percent, from P18.16 trillion a month earlier, the Bureau of the Treasury reported on Wednesday. This is also higher than the P16.68 trillion a year earlier.
“The expansion was primarily driven by the revaluation impact of peso depreciation against the US dollar, alongside net issuance of domestic securities,” the Treasury said in a statement.
Domestic debt increased to P12.53 trillion, up by 10.15 percent, from a year earlier of P11.38 trillion. It is also higher than the previous month's P12.48 trillion.
The Treasury said this was “mainly due to net issuance of government securities amounting to P46.72 billion.”
“In addition, peso depreciation contributed P8.68 billion to the peso value of foreign-currency denominated domestic securities,” it added.
External debt, meanwhile, rose to P5.95 trillion from February 2026’s P5.68 trillion, due to “depreciation of the peso, which raised the peso value of foreign currency-denominated obligations by P299.50 billion, following a P3.039 weakening in the USD/PHP exchange rate.”
“This was partially offset by net repayments of P2.55 billion and downward revaluation of third currencies debt by P23.92 billion,” it added.
