PHL govt debt up 3.1% as of end-July

The Philippine National Government’s debt stock rose 3.1 percent in the first seven months of 2011 because of the continued appreciation of the peso against other third currencies and the US dollar, the Treasury Bureau said Tuesday. Data from the bureau showed that the national government’s debt reached P4.748 trillion as of end- July 2011, compared to the P4.608 trillion at the end of July 2010, representing a P140.8 billion increase. The figure means that each of the 90.4 million Filipinos owes P52,500 in debt. Loans acquired by the national government from local sources, which account for 57.6 percent of total loans, hit P2.735 trillion, up 4.1 percent from P2.627 trillion in the same comparable period. Foreign loans, meanwhile, increased by 1.6 percent to P2.01 trillion from P1.978 trillion. Sovereign bonds increased by 5.4 percent to P1.198 trillion from P1.136 trillion. Dollar-denominated bonds fell 3.9 percent to P987.8 billion from P1.028 trillion, but the amount of Japanese yen bonds went up 3 percent to P81.3 billion P78.9 billion. Euro bonds also rose 0.9 percent P30.2 billion from P29.9 billion. — BC/VS, GMA News