National gov’t debt reaches P12 trillion as of end-January 2022

The National Government’s (NG) total outstanding debt stood at P12.03 trillion as of end-January 2022. For January, the NG’s total debt increased by P301.12 billion or 2.6% due to the net availment of both domestic and external debt.

Of the total debt stock, 30.4% was sourced externally while 69.6% were domestic borrowings. NG domestic debt amounted to P8.37 trillion, which is P197.38 billion or 2.4% higher compared to the end-December 2021 level.

This is primarily due to net availment of domestic financing amounting to P197.04 billion including the P300 billion provisional advances availed by the NG from the BSP for budgetary support.

NG external debt of P3.66 trillion was P103.74 billion or 2.9% higher from the previous month. For January, the increment in external debt was attributed to the impact of Peso depreciation1 against the USD amounting to P11.23 billion and the net availment of external obligations amounting to P94.88 billion. These were tempered by valuation
adjustments in other foreign currencies amounting to P2.37 billion.

Total NG guaranteed obligations decreased by P1.40 billion or 0.3% month-overmonth to P422.52 billion as of end-January 2022. The lower level of guaranteed debt was due to the net repayment for domestic and external guarantees amounting to P2.12 billion and P0.22 billion, respectively.

National gov’t debt reaches P12 trillion as of end-January 2022

This more than offset the effect of Peso depreciation against the USD amounting to P0.72 billion and net appreciation of third currency denominated guarantees against the US dollar amounting to P0.22 billion.

Meanwhile, the headline inflation in the Philippines remained at 3.0 percent in February 2022 as it recorded the same annual growth rate as in January 2022. Inflation in February 2021 was posted at 4.2 percent.

Faster annual increases were observed in the indices of housing, water, electricity, gas, and other fuels at 4.8 percent; transport, 8.8 percent; and recreation, sport, and culture at 1.6 percent.

Inflation for food decelerated to 1.1 percent in February 2022, from 1.6 percent in the previous month. In February 2021, food inflation was observed at 6.8 percent.

Inflation in NCR moved at a faster rate of 1.9 percent in February 2022, from 1.3 percent in January 2022. In February 2021, inflation in the area stood at 3.2 percent.