Sustainability risk rises on PH debt

The sustained rise in Philippine public debt continued to buck the trend of declining debt holdings among Filipino households and firms at the end of the third quarter of 2025, the latest Institute of International Finance (IIF) data showed.

- By BEN ARNOLD DE VERA

According to the Washington-based IIF's latest Global Debt Monitor published on Tuesday night, Dec. 9 (Manila time), the Philippine government's debt-to-gross domestic product (GDP) ratio rose to 57.8 percent in the third quarter of this year from 56.6 percent a year ago.

In the IIF report, government debt referred to general government (GG) debt, which the midterm update on the Philippine Development Plan (PDP) 2023-2028—the Marcos Jr. administration's medium-term socioeconomic blueprint—also adopted as a core indicator for its plan to lower the country's public debt burden.

The historically used national government (NG) debt-to-GDP ratio has been replaced by the GG debt ratio “as it presents a more holistic view of the government's liabilities,” according to the updated PDP 2023-2028.

The GG debt ratio is also the metric that credit rating agencies monitor for their ratings actions, as it excludes intragovernmental debt holdings.

Under the PDP 2023-2028, the current administration targets to gradually lower the GG debt ratio to 54.7 percent by the time President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. steps down in 2028.

The year-on-year increase in the GG debt ratio contrasted with the declines in household, non-financial corporates, and financial sector debt ratios for the Philippines.