At the end of February, the Philippines' debt reached P16.63 trillion, according to the Bureau of Treasury. Since January, it has increased by P319.26 billion or 1.96%. In the first two months of the year, the debt grew by P589.73 billion or 3.62%, and compared to February last year, there was an increase of P1.45 trillion or 9.57%.
The increase in debt is due to additional borrowing for public programs and projects. The appreciation of the peso against the dollar helped somewhat to reduce the impact of the growth in foreign debt. In total, domestic debt constitutes 67.5% while foreign debt is 32.5%.
Economic managers said that the debt could still be paid off as long as the economy grew rapidly.
