A corner of Manila (Source: internet) Hanoi (VNA) - The Philippines' outstanding debt soared past 9 trillion pesos (roughly 183.9 billion USD) as of the end of June as the government borrowed more to fight the COVID-19 pandemic, the Philippines Bureau of Treasury said.
The total debt stock for June reached 9.05 trillion pesos, an increase of 163.3 billion pesos or 1.8 percent compared to May due to the net issuance and availment of domestic and external financing, the treasury bureau said in a statement.
Of the total outstanding debt stock, 32 percent were sourced externally while 68 percent are domestic debt.
Data from the Department of Finance (DOF) of the Philippines showed that from January to June, the government has availed programme loans worth 216.3 billion pesos (roughly 4.4 billion USD) for coronavirus response, with 130.5 billion pesos (roughly 2.6 billion USD) from the Asian Development Bank and 85.8 billion pesos (roughly 1.74 billion USD) from the World Bank.
The Philippines' debt-to-GDP ratio before the COVID-19 strike was at only 39.6 percent in 2019./.
VNA
