The total outstanding debt of the National Government (NG) reached P15.69 trillion as of end-July, the Bureau of Treasury said Tuesday.

The NG’s debt portfolio has increased by P206.49 billion or 1.3 percent from the end-June level, primarily driven by the net issuance of both domestic and external debt.

The total debt stock is comprised of 68.54 percent domestic debt and 31.46 percent external debt. The domestic debt level for July stood at P10.75 trillion, P180.03 billion or 1.7 percent higher than the previous month.

The rise in domestic debt was mainly due to the P180.52 billion net issuance of government securities, although partially tempered by the P0.49 billion downward revaluation effect of peso appreciation on US dollar-denominated domestic securities .

Relative to the end-December 2023 level, domestic debt has also increased by P735.22 billion or 7.3 percent.

Meanwhile, the NG external debt of P4.94 trillion was P26.45 billion or 0.5 percent higher than the end-June level.

The rise in external debt can be attributed to the net availments of project loans of P5.25 billion and third-currency upward revaluation of P35.44 billion, albeit partially attenuated by the P14.23 billion impact of peso appreciation against the US dollar.

Since the beginning of the year, external debt has increased by P338.50 billion or 7.4 percent from its end-December 2023 level.

NG guaranteed obligations have increased by P1.14 billion or 0.3 percent from its end-June 2024 level to P344.79 billion as of end-July.

The rise in NG guarantees was mainly due to the P3.57 billion effect of third-currency adjustments against the US dollar which outweighed the P1.96 billion reduction from domestic and external net repayments as well as the P0.47 billion downward revaluation brought about by peso appreciation.

Since end-December 2023, NG guaranteed obligations have decreased by P4.65 billion or 1.3 percent. Bureau of Treasury