Manila's debt to hit $37b

Manila's debt to hit $37b

MANILA (AFP): The Philippines' foreign debt is projected to increase by 10.5 percent on a year earlier to US$37.9 billion by the end of 1994, but the debt service ratio and its proportion to gross national product (GNP) were down, the Central Bank said yesterday.

In a report to President Fidel Ramos, the bank said the rise reflected "mainly the net availments of medium- and long-term loans" to finance various infrastructure projects, such as those in the power sector, to sustain a modest economic rebound.

But the bank noted that, despite the increase, debt payments on principal and interest declined from 37 percent of export earnings in 1984 to 18.7 percent in 1993 and 17.6 percent this year.

In proportion to GNP, total external debt dropped from 83.5 percent in 1984 to 61.7 percent in 1993 and an estimated 57.8 percent in 1994, it added.

Economic planners forecast the economy to grow by up to six percent this year after posting a 5.5 percent expansion in the nine months to September.