MANILA - The national government's total outstanding debt reached P10.03 trillion at the end of October, the Bureau of Treasury said on Friday.

This grew by P658.81 billion or 7.03 percent from last month "primarily due to external and domestic loan availment," the Treasury said.

Compared to the same month a year ago, the debt swelled by P2.12 trillion or 26.8 percent.

Of the total outstanding debt, 28.4 percent were from foreign sources, while 71.6 percent were from local creditors, the Treasury added.

The government continued to borrow from domestic and foreign institutions to fund its fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.

From January to October, the country's domestic debt rose by P1.9 trillion, while foreign debt increased by P346.64 billion.

One major contributor to the higher debt was the country's P540-billion fresh loans from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas secured within the month. The funds were for the government's COVID-19 response.

• Gov't asks for fresh P540 billion loan from Bangko Sentral

The Philippine economy shrunk 11.5 percent in the third quarter, and is seen to cap the year with up to a 9.5 percent contraction due to slower economic activity from the COVID-19 related community quarantines.

• Economic managers see GDP shrinking up to 9.5 percent this year
• Dissecting Data: PH economy sees second worst contraction on record in third quarter

Watch more in iWantv or TFC.tv