Update on Filipino People’s Individual Debt Burden as PH Gov’t Borrowings Increase
Each Filipino reportedly has a debt burden of P118,000 as the borrowings of the Philippine government reached P13 trillion.
One of the government matters that affect the whole nation is the borrowings or debts of the national government. It is no secret to the public that the national government’s debt is tantamount to the debt of the whole Filipino nation.
Recently, the Philippine government borrowings has reached a record-high P113 trillion. It almost doubled from 2016 to 2022. The government previously cited the COVID-19 pandemic as a huge factor in the ballooning debt of the country.
The Philippines got domestic and international loans to obtain money for the fight against the pandemic. The national government borrowed funds to purchase COVID-19 vaccines in the pursuit to achieve herd immunity in the country.
Based on a report on ABS-CBN News, the P13 trillion borrowings of the Philippine government brings the debt burden of every Filipino to P118,000. During the budget hearing, the Bureau of Treasury said that the P13.02 trillion debt of the country is as of August 2022. It is 11% or P1.39 trillion higher from the country’s debt in December 2021.
PH National Treasurer Rosalia de Leon said that they added the loan amortizations to the national debt since they are already aware of the upcoming dues. According to her, there are deficits and the country is borrowing money to cover the deficits.
Based on the report, the Bureau of Treasury said that the Philippines need to pay P1 trillion in 2023 for the principal amortization and an additional P580 billion for the interest payments. According to the finance department, the target revenue next year is P3.63 trillion with most of it coming from the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) and the Bureau of Customs (BoC).
Senate Minority Leader Senator Koko Pimentel stressed that the said revenue is “insufficient” even just at the level of authorized expenditure. He stressed the need for government agencies and departments to look for ways to generate more revenues without putting additional taxes on small earners.
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