The national government’s total outstanding debt grew by 2.63 percent to P15.18 trillion as of February due to higher domestic borrowings, the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) said Wednesday.

Domestic loans reached P10.58 trillion which was four percent higher compared to end-January and accounted for 69.68 percent of the total debt stock.

Government securities, including the P584.86 billion five-year Retail Treasury Bonds, resulted in a gross domestic debt worth P708.74 billion.

Net payments

The national government incurred net payments amounting to P415.17 billion, with principal payments reaching P293.57 billion.

Weaker peso against foreign currencies reduced payments by P0.66 billion.

In contrast, total external debt shrank by 0.56 percent to P4.6 trillion, representing 30.32 percent of the total debt.

The BTr said the decline stemmed from “favorable” foreign exchange movements by local and third currencies against the US dollar, providing the national government P18.79 billion and P9.96 billion, respectively.

“These more than offset the P2.75 billion net availment of foreign loans,” the BTr said.

Continue to improve tax collection

Department of Finance (DoF) Secretary Ralph Recto said its agencies will continue to improve tax-collection measures to boost government funds in reducing dependence on loans to support public services projects.

These include digitalizing tax processes and spreading tax literacy among the individual and corporate taxpayers.

Recto also said the DoF aggressively coordinates with lawmakers to pass its priority tax proposals.

These are the value-added tax on digital service providers; excise tax on single-use plastics; Package 4 of the Comprehensive Tax Reform Program on financial transactions; rationalized mining tax; and motor vehicle user’s charge.