MANILA — The Philippines' national debt rose to P16.75 trillion at the end of April 2025, up P68.69 billion or 0.41 percent from March, the Bureau of Treasury said on Wednesday. 

The increase would have been higher if not for "the significant appreciation of the peso, which reduced the effect of additional borrowings in line with the fiscal program," Treasury added.

Foreign debt declined to P5.16 trillion, down by 2.68 percent or P142.33 billion from March primarily due to the P124.74 billion decrease in the peso value of external debt as the local currency appreciated, and as the government booked net repayments of P58.28 billion.

The country's domestic debt stock also benefitted from the peso's strength as this reduced the peso value of dollar-denominated domestic securities by P3.85 billion.

As the administration of US President Donald Trump unleashed a tariff war with its biggest trading partners, the US dollar depreciated from P57.28 in March to P55.933 in April, according to data from Treasury.

Despite the peso' appreciation, domestic debt still rose to P11.59 trillion in April, slightly up by 1.85 percent  or P211.02 billion. Treasury said this was backed by the strong demand for government securities, including P300 billion in benchmark bonds.

"With the economy continuing to grow faster compared to its obligations, the country remains firmly on track to reduce the debt-to-GDP ratio to below 60 percent by the end of the President’s term. The fiscal deficit has also been steadily narrowing and is on track to drop to about 3.8 percent by 2028," the agency said.

Economic managers expect the Philippine economy to grow at least 6 percent in 2025, after posting a 5.4 percent expansion in the first three months of the year. The country needs to grow 6.2 percent for the rest of the year to meet the lower-end 6 percent growth target set by economic managers.