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THE Philippines’ outstanding external debt rose last year, as
foreign exchange revaluations and net loan availments went up due to
a weak dollar against other currencies, the Bangko Sentral ng
Pilipinas (BSP) said Monday.
Despite the increase, the Philippines’
capacity to service its maturing foreign obligations improved, as
its external debt dipped as a percentage of the domestic economy, as
measured by the country’s gross domestic product (GDP).
In a statement, BSP Gov. Amando Tetangco Jr.
said the country’s debt stock increased by 2.8 percent to $54.9
billion last year compared with $53.4 billion in the previous year.
More than half of the debt stock was denominated
in dollars and 25.2 percent in Japanese yen. Multi-currency loans
from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the World Bank (WB)
comprised 9.4 percent, and 13.6 percent in 16 other currencies.
Tetangco said the growth in external debt was
driven by the upward foreign exchange revaluation adjustment of
nearly $1.1 billion and net loan availments of $765 million.
Increased holdings of Philippine debt papers by residents at $273
million partially tempered the increase.
Local branches of foreign banks and private
local banks both posted net increases in their foreign liabilities
at $681 million and $243 million, respectively, principally
reflecting the growth in their total foreign exchange deposit
liabilities to non-residents by more than $504 million.
Total prepayments reached $1.2 billion, of which
$1.0 billion pertained to obligations maturing this year and beyond.
The percentage of outstanding external debt to
GDP however improved to 38.1 percent last December compared with
40.3 percent last September and 45.4 percent in 2006.
“The declining ratio indicates the country’s
improving capacity to service its maturing foreign obligations,”
Tetangco said.
In terms maturity, the profile remained
predominantly medium- to long-term, accounting for 87.1 percent of
the total. The loans had a weighted average maturity of 18.9 years,
lower than the previous year’s 17.8 years.
For public sector borrowings, the average stood
at 21.4 years, more than twice the private sector’s 9.9 years.
Total public sector external debt rose to $37.7 billion in December
last year from the previous quarter’s $37.2 billion.
Private sector external debt rose to $17.4
billion, slightly higher than 17.2 percent in September last year.
Tetangco said the country has sufficient foreign
exchange earnings to service obligations, as measured by the
percentage of total principal and interest payments to total exports
of goods and receipts from services and income. This ratio improved
to 9.6 percent last year, from 11.8 percent in the previous year,
but below the 20 to 25 percent international benchmark.
-- Maricel E. Burgonio
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