MANILA – The Philippine government's total outstanding debt rose to P19.61 trillion at the end of August, driven by state bond issuances and the peso's depreciation versus the dollar, official data showed Wednesday.
Total national liabilities increased by 1.12 percent, or P217.62 billion, from the P19.39 trillion recorded in July. On a year-to-date basis, public debt expanded by 10.72 percent from P17.71 trillion at the end of December 2025, according to the Bureau of the Treasury.
Domestic borrowing accounted for the lion's share of total obligations at 67.53 percent, reaching P13.24 trillion. Local obligations grew by 0.99 percent month-on-month, primarily pushed up by net issuances of government securities amounting to P127.85 billion.
External obligations made up the remaining 32.47 percent, rising 1.39 percent from July to hit P6.37 trillion. The Treasury said the swell in foreign debt was largely due to the peso's depreciation against the US dollar, which added P90.32 billion to the local currency valuation of foreign debt. Net foreign loan availments contributed an additional P2.86 billion.
The Philippine peso slipped further against the dollar to 62.209 at the end of August, compared to 61.327 in July and 58.790 at the end of 2025. Since the end of last year, external liabilities have surged by 13.87 percent, propelled by P452.92 billion in net foreign borrowings and P322.82 billion in adverse foreign exchange rate movements.
The country's debt is expected to further swell next year, with the government looking to borrow P1.7 trillion to fund its projected budget gap in 2027.
While the government originally targetted a debt level of P19.76 trillion this year, there are reports that this could be breached.
The Philippines has been borrowing heavily in the last few years, as it funds its infrastructure push and social safety programs amid global economic headwinds.
The administration of President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. inherited a massive P12.79-trillion debt when it took office in 2022 from the administration of former President Rodrigo Duterte. This was already more than double the P5.95 triillion debt that Duterte inherited from the administration of former President Noynoy Aquino.
Economic managers have said that the rising debt is not a cause for worry as long as the economy expands faster than the debt. GDP growth however has been slowing down in the last few years as government spending slowed amid a massive corruption scandal, and amid external economic shocks