The share of the country’s debt to domestic output as measured by the gross domestic product (GDP) soared to a fresh 16-year high of 63.5 percent as of end March this year, according to the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr).
The outstanding obligations of the national government booked a double-digit growth of 17.7 percent to hit an all-time high of P12.68 trillion in end March as the country borrowed more from domestic and foreign creditors to plugs the country’s ballooning budget deficit and finance expenditures including COVID-19 response measures.
The debt-to-GDP ratio of the Philippines hit a 16-year-high 60.5 percent last year as the country’s budget shortfall swelled to a record high, this was the highest sine the 65.7 percent recorded in 2005.
The national government expects its outstanding debt to hit a new all-time high of P13.42 trillion this year, equivalent to 60.9 percent of GDP based on the GDP growth forecast of economic managers of seven to nine percent this year.
The Philippines booked a faster-than-anticipated GDP growth of 8.3 percent in the first quarter from 7.8 percent in the fourth quarter of last year, reversing the 3.8 percent contraction in the same quarter in 2021.
