Photo Release

On domestic debt: Sen. Imee Marcos inquires into the country’s current status on domestic debt during the continuation of the Development Budget Coordinating Committee (DBCC) briefing on the proposed 2022 National Expenditure Program (NEP) Thursday, September 9, 2021. She noted that the share of domestic debt had increased from 66 percent in 2019 to 71 percent in June 2021. Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Gov. Benjamin Diokno said it should not be “something that we should be concerned” at the moment since these are abnormal times. He said other countries like Japan could see the Philippines’ “strength fundamentals” and that they had mapped out plans to bring the domestic debt level to where it was before the pandemic. (Screen grab/Senate PRIB).