Philippines: Record-low debt level in 6 years

• Aug 16, 2016

Philippines: Record-low debt level in 6 years

Tuesday, 16 August 2016 – Despite plans for a higher budget deficit, the national government’s debt pile is projected to fall to record-low levels by the end of the Duterte administration, officials said yesterday.

“This is because the growth rate of our economy will be much faster than the growth of our debt,” Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno told reporters on the sidelines of the 2017 proposed budget presentation.

Under the fiscal program, the government plans to borrow P631.3 billion, down from this year’s projected P695.4 billion.

The amount will finance payment of existing debts as well as the deficit that will reach P478.1 billion, equivalent to three percent of gross domestic product (GDP).

Despite this, debt as a percentage of GDP is seen to decline to 40.9 percent of GDP next year and “approach near 35 percent of GDP by 2022,” President Duterte said in his budget message. Read More?