MANILA - The Philippine national government's total outstanding debt reached P13.86 trillion as of the end of March, higher by 0.8 percent compared to the previous month, the Bureau of Treasury said on Monday.

Out of the total debt stock, 31.3 percent was sourced externally while 68.7 percent were domestic borrowings, the BTr said.

Domestic debt amounted to P9.51 trillion, higher by 0.8 percent compared to the end-February level, data showed.

Meanwhile, foreign debt reached P4.34 trillion or 0.8 percent higher than the previous month, records showed.

The increment in external debt was due to the P84.26 billion net availment of foreign loans and P18.53 billion impact of third currency adjustments against the US dollar, the BTr said.

The national government's external debt has also increased by P133.27 billion of 3.2 percent from December 2022.

The government borrowed heavily to finance the country's COVID-19 response and an ambitious infrastructure push during the administration of former President Rodrigo Duterte. This pushed the country's debt-to-GDP ratio to 63.7 percent in the third quarter of 2022. But by the end of last year, the ratio had improved to 60.9 percent.

Before the pandemic, a 60 percent debt-to-GDP ratio was considered high by global standards

• Philippine debt rises to P13.75 trillion in February
• Philippine debt rises to P13.7-T as of January 2023

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