The government managed to trim its outstanding debt by 2.1 percent to P12.49 trillion in end May from an all-time high of P12.76 trillion in end April after it settled its provisional advanced with the central bank, according to the Bureau of the Treasury.
On a year-on-year basis, the national debt increased by 12.87 percent from the May 2021 level of P11.07 trillion.
As part of its COVID-19 response measures, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) extended P540 billion in provisional advances to the national government that was eventually reduced to P300 billion at the start of the year.
The national government settled the remaining P300 billion obligation last month as the BSP continues to withdraw its extraordinary responses to the global health crisis.
The national debt soared to a 17-year high of 63.5 percent of gross domestic product (GDP), in the first quarter of 2022, exceeding the international threshold of 60 percent.
Data from the Treasury showed majority or 69.3 percent of the debt stock came from the domestic market, while the remaining 30.7 percent was sourced from foreign creditors.
Domestic debt slipped by three percent to P8.67 trillion in May but was 9.5 percent than the P7.92 trillion recorded in May last year.
Foreign debt, on the other hand, was almost flat at P3.83 trillion month-on-month, but jumped 21.4 percent from P3.16 trillion in the same period last year.
The increment in external debt was due to the impact of local and foreign currency fluctuations against the dollar amounting to an additional P5.63 billion and P9.41 billion, respectively.
