With most of the government's debt portfolio dominated by long-term bonds with fixed interest rates, there is less risk from the trend of rising interest rates globally, according to the Public Debt Management Office (PDMO). However, as 82% of PDMO's debt portfolio is made up of long-term bonds with fixed interest rates, this reduces the risk for public debt management, said Mrs Patricia. The office is expected to restructure short-term debt to become long-term bonds with fixed interest rates, she said. Under the office's medium-term strategy for public debt management, at least 80% of its debt portfolio will have to comprise long-term bonds with fixed interest rates in order to reduce risk in public debt management, she said. The government's total borrowing of 1.5 trillion baht led to a spike in the public debt to 9.64 trillion baht in December 2021, accounting for 59.6% of GDP.

Source: Bangkok Post February 17, 2022 02:45 UTC