MANILA, Philippines — Debt prepayments and refinancing by Philippine borrowers almost doubled in the first nine months amid the weakening of the peso against the dollar, data from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) showed. Rosabel Guerrero, director of the BSP’s Department of Economic Research, said total prepayments with refinancing amounted to $2 billion from January to September, $900 million higher than the $1.1 billion recorded in the same period last year. For the third quarter alone, total prepayments with refinancing surged to $809.2 million from $23.2 million in the same quarter last year. The national government and private corporations started prepaying their foreign debt after the Philippines settled its obligations to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in 2005. The country’s external debt declined $4.3 billion to $72.4 billion in end-September from $76.6 billion in end-September last year.

Source: Philippine Star December 26, 2017 16:07 UTC