The country’s external debt hit a fresh record high of $101.2 billion as of the end of June as the government continued to borrow more money to finance pandemic response measures.

This marked an increase of 15.7 percent from the $87.5 billion recorded in the same period last year.

The Philippines has been borrowing heavily to mitigate the economic impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.

“This is reflective of the faster economic growth in the second quarter,” said Diokno.

The Duterte administration was looking to borrow P3 trillion this year and P2.25 trillion next year.

The country’s total debt climbed to P11.6 trillion at the end of July. This represented an increase of P444.4 billion or four percent from June owing to the weakening of the peso.

BSP Governor Benjamin Diokno said key external debt indicators continued to be manageable, pointing out that foreign exchange reserves remain sufficient to cover up to 7.5 times the country’s short-term debt.

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PH external debt hits new high
Source: Filipino Daily Inquirer