President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. defended the government’s continued reliance on borrowings, insisting the administration follows a “disciplined debt strategy” even as the national debt has reached P16.92 trillion by end-May.
As of this writing, however, the Malaya Business Insight received a separate report showing the national government’s outstanding debt has actually hit P17.27 trillion as of end-June, based on Treasury data released on Wednesday.
In his 240-page Report to the People released after yesterday’s State of the Nation Address (SONA), Marcos said the goal is to bring down the debt-to-GDP ratio to about 60 percent by 2028.
The ratio stood at 62 percent in the first quarter (Q1) of 2025, slightly lower than 63.5 percent in Q1 2022 when he took office.
“The national government continues to borrow responsibly to preserve the resilience of its debt profile,” Marcos said, adding that this strategy is aimed at shielding future generations from excessive debt while sustaining investor confidence.
Of the current debt, 69.6 percent or P11.78 trillion came from domestic sources, while P5.14 trillion or 30.4 percent was sourced externally.
Under the proposed 2025 national budget, P880 billion or 13.9 percent has been earmarked for debt and interest payments, including net lending to state-run firms.
Marcos also cited government efforts to raise funds through asset disposal.
From 2022 to April 2025, the Privatization and Management Office collected P7.38 billion from asset sales, litigated receivables, rental, and dividend income.
