MANILA: Government debt rose to a fresh high of 15.69 trillion peso or about US$277.8bil at the end of July, primarily driven by new issuance of government securities and project loans, albeit partially offset by stronger peso, the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) says.

The BTr showed that total state obligations increased by 206.49 billion peso in July, up by 1.3% from the previous month.

Compared with a year ago, the debt load went up by 10.1%, or an additional 1.45 trillion peso-debt in July.

The treasury department attributed the higher debt due to the increase in domestic debt brought by issuance of government securities and new government loans although the stronger peso provided some partial relief.

 - ANN