Foreign debt rises but still 'sustainable' says BSP

Arthur Fuentes

ABS-CBN News

MANILA - The Philippines&#x27; foreign debt increased in the third quarter but was still at a sustainable level, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas said on Friday. The BSP said the country&#x27;s total external debt stood at $139.64 billion as of the end of September, up by $9.46 billion or 7.3 percent from the $130.18 billion level as of end-June. Despite this, the external debt ratio, which is debt as a percentage of gross domestic product, remains at a prudent level at 30.6 percent in the third quarter from 28.9 percent from the second quarter, the BSP said.The central bank said gross international reserves (GIR) stood at $112.71 billion as of end-September and represented 3.92 times cover for short-term (ST) debt based on the remaining maturity concept. The debt service ratio (DSR), which relates principal and interest payments to exports of goods and receipts from services and primary income, rose to 11.6 percent from 10.4 percent for the same period last year due to the higher recorded debt service payments from January to September 2024. The DSR and the GIR cover for ST debt are measures of the adequacy of the country’s foreign exchange (FX) resources to meet maturing obligations, the BSP said.Compared to the same period last year, the country’s debt stock was up $20.81 billion, or by 17.5 percent, from the end-September 2023 level of $118.83 billion. Most of the country&#x27;s obligations were medium to long-term debts, with 79.4 percent of the total, or $110.87 billion. Short-term debts meanwhile made up 20.6 percent or $28.77 billion of the total outstanding external debt.The Philippines has been borrowing heavily to finance the government&#x27;s ambitious infrastructure push. Economic managers however have been downplaying concerns over the rising debt saying that the country can afford to pay it as long as the economy keeps growing faster than the debt.The Philippines&#x27; sovereign debt stood at P16.02 trillion as of end-October 2024, which was P126.95 billion or 0.8 percent higher than in September.  The increase was largely due to the peso&#x27;s depreciation against the US dollar from 56.017 at end-September 2024 to 58.198 at end-October 2024, according to the Bureau of Treasury.<div><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/L6-X270zZOY?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe> </div>

The Philippines' foreign debt increased in the third quarter but was still at a sustainable level, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas said on Friday.

The Philippines' foreign debt increased in the third quarter but was still at a sustainable level, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas said on Friday.

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Foreign debt rises but still 'sustainable' says BSP

Foreign debt rises but still 'sustainable' says BSP

Arthur Fuentes,

ABS-CBN News

Published Dec 20, 2024 09:32 PM PHT

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