MANILA – The Philippines’ outstanding debt climbed to another record-high at P16.63 trillion in February,  data released by the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) showed.

The national government debt rose by 1.96% from the previous month, mainly driven by “net issuance of new domestic and external debt to support more public programs and projects,” the National Treasury said.

Of the total debt, domestic debt still occupied about two-thirds or 67.5% of the government’s total obligation, with external borrowings making up the remaining 32.5%.

External debt, or borrowings from foreign and international lenders, rose by 3.44% to P5.41 trillion due to net availment of foreign borrowing and a net appreciation effect on third-currency-denominated debt. But a stronger peso partially offset the increase.

Domestic debt had a more muted increase of 1.26%, reaching P11.22 trillion, with the appreciation of peso also tempering the effects of net domestic financing.

BTr assured that the sovereign debt remains “manageable.”

“Nevertheless, the (debt) increase was partially offset by the strengthening of the peso against the US dollar, which appreciated from P58.375 at the end of January to P57.990 at the end of February, helping manage foreign debt obligations,” the bureau said.