The country’s foreign debt stock fell to $72.36 billion in the third quarter of 2017, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said on Friday, down $5.6 billion from a year earlier. The external debt ratio—or the total outstanding debt expressed as a percentage of the annual aggregate output—narrowed to 19.5 percent, improving from 21.1 percent a year earlier. The country’s debt service ratio (DSR) also improved to 6.1 percent from 6.7 percent. About 80.4 percent of the Philippines’ external debt is medium to long-term in nature with maturities of more than one year. This means that foreign exchange requirements for debt payments are well spread out and more manageable, the central bank said.

Source: Manila Times December 17, 2017 16:07 UTC