go through Aubrey Rose A. Inosante, reporter
National Government (ng) Debt outstanding is expected to be a record p19.06 trillion by the end of 2026, a budget and management departmentMent (DBM) file display Wednesday.
This is due to the government’s plan to borrow P2.68 trillion P2.68 trillion next year to fund the national budget.
NG’s debt stock is expected to grow by 9.78% from the revised P173.36-3.6 trillion estimate at the end of 2025, according to the 2026 expenditure budget and financing sources.
In total, domestic debt is expected to grow by 10.27% from 2026 to 2026By the end of 2025, JETDED P12.04 trillion.
From the end of 2025 to 2025, and by the end of 2026, outstanding foreign debt jumped 8.67% between 2026 and 2026.
Finance Minister Ralph G. Recto told BusinessWorld NG debt is still manageable, noting that by 2026, the economy will be worth about 31.8 trillion P31.8 trillion.
As of June, the latest height of monarch debt in the Philippines was 17.27 trillion pesos, up from P15.48 trillion in the same month of 2024.
This brings the highest proportion since 2005 to a gross domestic product (GDP) ratio of debt to box office to 63.1%. This exceeds the 60% debt versus GDP threshold that multilateral lenders believe can manage economies.
“This is still consistent with our MTFF (Medium-term Fiscal Framework). But we want it to be at least 60%, which is international standards,
Budget Secretary Amenah F. Pangandaman told reporters under the watchful eye of the House’s national spending plan turnover in 2026.
“Hopefully we can solve this problem, or even reduce it by 59% or 58% if possible,” Ms Pangandaman said.
DBM said it now expects a debt-to-GDP ratio of 61.3% by the end of 2025, slightly higher than the previous 60.4% target.
By the end of 2026, the debt-to-GDP ratio is considered to be 61.8%.
Romeo Matthew T. Balanquit, assistant budget secretary, said the higher projections for the debt-to-GDP ratio were considered in the case of slower economic growth.
Economic managers in June narrowed their GDP growth targets for this year from a target range of 6-8% to 5.5-6.5%, “reflecting a more measurable and resilient prospect for global headwinds and global headwinds.”
The previous 6-8%, the growth target from 2026 to 2028 has also been pruned to 6-7%.
Mr Barranckett said the government has accumulated huge debts during the 2019 coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic.
“We pay off debts during the pandemic. We do need to strengthen interest. But the benefit here is that interest rates are actually falling,” he said.
He added: “We will also see borrowing costs lower in the coming years. Admittedly, our interest payments are increasing.”
Lending Plan
At the same time, the government’s 2026 lending plan is set to P2.6.8 trillion P2.6.15%, compared with P2.6 trillion P2.6 trillion this year.
Mr Balanquit said the lending mixture was still at a ratio of 80:20, favoring domestic sources to minimize the risk of external shocks.
The total debt of domestic borrowing is set to be in 2026, 2.7% higher than the P2.11-1rlions plan in 2025. This includes P1.99 trillion P1.99 trillion fixed-rate Treasury bills and fiscal bills of Pesos.
On the other hand, the total external borrowing for next year is set to P627.1 billion pesos, 28.46% higher than this year’s P48881.17 billion P4.46%.
This includes 300 billion p36.39 billion pesos of bonds and other inflows, and project loans are 61.71 billion P61.711 billion.
At the same time, the debt bill was set to P2.01 trillion in 2026, a decrease of 2.36% from P2.05 trillion this year.
The government said it will spend $1.06 trillion on principal amortization next year, 12.48% lower than the 2025 P1.21 trillion population.
To pay interest, the government allocated pesos 90 billion, down 12% from this year’s pesos 848 billion.
Tax revenue
In 2026, NG aims to receive P4.98 trillion P4.24% revenue, compared with P4.52 trillion P4.24% this year.
The government expects to collect taxes of P4.63 trillion P4.63 trillion next year, up 9.96% from P4.211 billion this year.
The Internal Revenue Agency is expected to collect 35.8 trillion p1.58 trillion p1. while the Customs Agency will generate P1.01 trillion.
On the other hand, next year’s Fennex revenue is expected to fall 17.38% from this year’s P301.5 billion to pesos 24.1 billion.
The proceeds from the government’s privatization plan are expected to grow from pesos 5 billion this year to pesos 100.1 billion in 2026.
