(Bloomberg) -- The Philippines expects its debt to rise to more than half of its economic output this year as the government increased borrowing to cope with the pandemic, the Bureau of the Treasury said.
Government debt will likely spike to about 53% of gross domestic product in 2020 after dropping to a “decades low” level of 39.6% last year, the Treasury said in it's annual fiscal risk assessment for the year ahead. The country's debt will be “within the internationally recognized sustainability threshold of 60-70%” and within the median of similarly-rated peers, it said.
Philippines Lowers 2020 Growth Forecast, Sees Improvement Ahead
“The impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and response measures will elevate debt-to-GDP above its previous trajectory,” the Treasury said in the assessment posted on the website. “Over the medium-term, fiscal consolidation will resume,” it said, pledging to bring down the budget deficit poised to swell to a record in 2020.
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