External debt hits $80B in Q1

THE country’s outstanding external debt reached $80.431 billion in the first quarter of 2019, up from figures posted three months and a year earlier, data released by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) showed.

In a statement, the central bank said the amount was $1.471 billion higher than the $78.960 billion recorded in the last quarter of 2018, largely due to net availments totaling $1.8 billion, “as the national government raised $1.5 billion from the issuance of global bonds to fund [its] general financing requirements and positive audit adjustments.”