As soon as she assumed the presidency of the Philippines, Aquino moved quickly to tackle the issue of the US$28 billion-foreign debt incurred by her predecessor, which has badly tarnished the international credit standing and economic reputation of the country. After weighing all possible options such as choosing not to pay, Aquino eventually chose to honor all the debts that were previously incurred in order to clear the country's image. Her decision proved to be unpopular but Aquino defended that it was the most practical move. It was crucial for the country at that time to regain the investors' confidence in the Philippine economy. Beginning in 1986, the Aquino administration paid off $4 billion of the country's outstanding debts to regain good international credit ratings and attract the attention of future markets. Although it borrowed an additional $9 billion, increasing the net national debt by $5 billion within six years after the ouster of former President Ferdinand Marcos in 1986, due to the need to infuse capital and money into the economy, the Aquino administration succeeded in wrangling lower interest rates and longer payment terms in settling the country's debts. From 87.9 percent when it inherited the foreign debt from the Marcos regime, the Cory Aquino administration was able to reduce by 30.1 percent the Philippines' external debt-to-GDP ratio to 67.8 percent in 1991.