PH debt

PAGE 1 backing of his fellow PDP-Laban senators.

Adjustment to Senate protocol He recently came under fire on social media over a video clip from the May 16 plenary session where he was accused of disregarding parliamentary procedures when he responded in Filipino and seemed confused about how to make a proper motion on the Senate floor.

The incident has been brought up in chat groups among senators, Senate Majority Leader Joel Villanueva told reporters at the Senate on Monday, May 29, adding it served as a “reminder”

of foreign currency debt," it added.

Since the start of the year, external debt has grown by P242.83 billion.

Guaranteed obligations, meanwhile, plunged by P3.42 billion to P380.69 billion as of end-April.

The drop was attributed to the net repayment of domestic guarantees amounting to P5.51 billion and third-currency adjustments amounting to P1.87 billion.

"These were tempered by the impact of local currency depreciation amounting to P3.95 billion," the Treasury said.

Guaranteed debt as of end-April was P18.35 billion lower from the end of last year.

Sought for comment, Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. chief economist Michael Ricafort said the latest borrowings could reflect the need to finance wider budget deficits.

"For the coming months, a new record high for the outstanding national government [debt] in peso terms is still possible, in view of the upcoming US dollar-denominated or euro-denominated retail bond issuance in the third quarter of 2023," he added. China Banking Corp. chief economist Domini Velasquez said government debt could continue to rise but at a slower pace given a spending slowdown.

"If we look at the fiscal performance of the national government,