The National Government’s outstanding debt rose to P18.55 trillion as of end-May 2026, up 0.41 percent from P18.47 trillion a month earlier, according to the Bureau of the Treasury.
The BTr said the increase was mainly driven by the net incurrence of domestic securities as the government continued to raise funds to support its financing requirements despite the ongoing Middle Eastern conflict.
The peso’s appreciation against the US dollar and other foreign currencies, however, helped temper the overall increase in the debt stock.
Domestic borrowings continued to make up the bulk of total debt at 67.37 percent, while external obligations accounted for the remaining 32.63 percent.
The BTr said the debt structure reflects the government’s prudent debt management strategy of prioritizing domestic financing to support local capital markets while reducing exposure to foreign exchange risks.
Domestic debt reached P12.50 trillion, a 0.65 percent increase from the end-April level. The rise was mainly attributed to the P80.23 billion net issuance of government securities.
The appreciation of the peso, meanwhile, trimmed P0.11 billion from the valuation of onshore dollar bonds.
Compared with the end-December 2025 level of P12.12 trillion, domestic debt increased by 3.13 percent, in line with the government’s domestically skewed financing program.
External debt, on the other hand, slightly declined to P6.05 trillion, down 0.07 percent from the previous month.
The BTr said the marginal decrease was due to the significant appreciation of the peso against the US dollar and other foreign currencies, resulting in a favorable downward valuation effect of P18.91 billion. This outweighed P14.90 billion in net external debt availments.
Despite the month-on-month decline, the end-May 2026 external debt level was still 8.2 percent higher than the P5.59 trillion recorded at the end of December 2025.
National Government guaranteed obligations stood at P443.50 billion as of end-May 2026, up 15.73 percent from the previous month.
The increase was driven by the issuance of P61.62 billion in new domestic guarantees, partly offset by P0.53 billion in repayments of external guarantees.
Favorable revaluation effects also reduced guaranteed obligations by P0.06 billion for local currency-denominated guarantees and P0.75 billion for third currency-denominated guarantees.
Compared with the end-December 2025 level, National Government guaranteed obligations increased by 28.71 percent.