Foreign debt reaches all-time high in 2023

The country’s foreign debt reached another record high in 2023, as both the national government and the private sector borrowed more from offshore creditors, the central bank said.

- KEISHA TA-ASAN

Preliminary data from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) showed that the country’s external debt rose by 12.7 percent to an all-time high of $125.4 billion in 2023 from $111.3 billion a year earlier.

The BSP said the increase was due to the $9.2-billion net availments last year, around $7.9 billion of which were borrowings by the National Government (NG).

Foreign debt also rose by 5.5 percent from the $118.8 billion recorded as of endSeptember 2023 due to net availments of $4.9 billion by both private and public sector borrowers.

“Private sector borrowings for the quarter were mainly driven by the $3 billion availment by a non-bank firm under a syndicated loan from offshore banks. Proceeds from said borrowings were used to finance its capital expenditures and maturing obligations,” the BSP said.