THE general government (GG) debt-to-gross domestic product (GDP) ratio rose in the first half of 2017 on the back of a higher budget deficit, the Finance department reported during the weekend. The national government operations impact the most on the GG debt ratios.”National government debt (net of BSF) reached P5.8 trillion, up by 10.3 percent from P5.3 trillion as of the end of June 2016. Because the BSF can only invest in government securities and these holdings are considered intra-sectoral and netted from total outstanding national government debt, the decline in BSF holdings, combined with peso depreciation, led to higher outstanding national government debt for the period, the DFG explained. It also bared that local government debt reached P85.8 billion, an increase of 9.2 percent compared to the P78.6 billion posted during the same period in 2016. The result, however, was higher than the 40.7 percent target presented during a Development Budget Coordination Council meeting last June.

Source: Manila Times February 18, 2018 16:18 UTC