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Gov’t keeps debt-to-GDP ratio within 50%

By Joann Villanueva

June 18, 2020, 9:26 pm

<p>Finance Assistant Secretary Jose Antonio Lambino II</p>

Finance Assistant Secretary Jose Antonio Lambino II

MANILA – The Philippine government will ensure the share of government debt-to-total output will not exceed 50 percent, Department of Finance (DOF) Assistant Secretary Jose Antonio Lambino II said Thursday.
 
During a Palace briefing, Lambino said the debt-to-gross domestic product (GPD) ratio of the country declined to 39.6 percent as of end-2019.
 
The data from the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) showed that government debt reached PHP7.73 trillion as of last year.
 
The bulk or 66.3 percent of which were sourced from domestic fund sources while the balance of 33.7 percent came from foreign fund sources.
 
Lambino said the government continues to post improvement on its debt-to-GDP ratio, a plus on the country’s credit rating which recently was upgraded to A-level by the Japan Credit Rating Agency (JCRA).
 
He said while the government continues to borrow to fund its program to fight the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic, the borrowings will not be done irresponsibly.
 
Lambino said economic managers are firm on keeping the debt-to-GDP levels to within the 50-percent range.
 
“Iyan po ay naglalagay sa atin sa kalagitnaan ng ating mga peer countries so we want to stay in that area. (This brings us in the middle among peer countries so we want to stay in that area),” he added.
 
The government has formulated a four-pillar Covid-19 response program, amounting to PHP1.7 trillion.
 
This will be funded by government savings, funds gathered from lesser priority programs of the various government agencies, and borrowings.
 
From the Asian Development Bank (ADB) alone, the government recently secured a USD500-million loan for the beneficiaries of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps), and Covid-19 program and a USD200-million loan signed between the parties last April for Covid-19 program.
 
The government has signed a pact with the lender that allows the former to access up to USD1.5 billion in budgetary support for its Covid-19 response.
 
Other Covid-19-related borrowings include the USD750-million from the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) and the USD100-million loan from the World Bank (WB).
 
The government has a borrowing mix program of about 70-30 for this year, bulk of which will be sourced domestically.  (PNA)
 
 
 

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