National Gov't debt rises due to local borrowings

Local borrowings pushed the National Government’s debt stock higher at the end of November, data from the Treasury bureau showed. The debt stock went up by P1 billion to P4.425 trillion as of end-November. Theoretically, each of the 92.23 million Filipinos is indebted by roughly P48,000. Of the total debt, 45 percent or P1.972 trillion was owed to foreign creditors and the balance or P2.453 trillion to local lenders. Local debt went up by 0.1 percent or P4 billion to P2.452 billion as of end-November from a month earlier. On the other hand, the National Government’s foreign debt dropped by 0.2 percent or P3 billion P1.972 trillion from the end-October 2009 level. The Treasury traced the lower foreign debt to the appreciation of the peso against the dollar. The state saved about P39 billion because of this. This was offset by the appreciation of third currencies against the dollar worth P29 billion. The government borrows from local and foreign lenders to finance spending. It has been trying to put the country’s fiscal house in order but administrative loopholes in revenue collection and rampant corruption in revenue agencies continue to bloat the deficit. The government’s budget deficit has ballooned to P272.5 billion as of end-November 2009, above last year’s programmed ceiling of P250 billion. Finance officials are bracing for a budget gap of just below P300 billion for 2009. It expects the deficit to hit P293 billion this year. — NPA, GMANews.TV