By The Financial District
Nov 12, 20231 min
The debt payments of the national government for the first nine months of the year reached P1.4 trillion, reflecting a 15% increase in September compared to the same period last year, according to data from the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr).
The increase in debt payments reflects the financial obligations and challenges faced by the national government in managing its debt portfolio.
In September alone, the debt service bill amounted to PHP238.9 billion, up from last year's PHP206.9 billion.
More than half of the debt payments during the month were allocated to amortization, with principal payments totaling PHP167.5 billion, marking a 13.9% increase from last year's PHP147 billion.
Of this total, the BTr paid PHP148.8 billion to domestic lenders and PHP18.6 billion to foreign creditors.
Interest payments for September amounted to PHP71.4 billion, indicating a 19.3% increase from the PHP59.8 billion in the same month last year. Interest on local debt rose to PHP55.8 billion in 2023 from PHP47.7 billion in 2022.
Domestic interest payments during the month included PHP28.6 billion in fixed-rate Treasury bonds, PHP25.6 billion in retail Treasury bonds, and PHP1.6 billion in Treasury bills.
Interest on foreign debt reached PHP15.5 billion, up from last year's PHP12.1 billion.
Overall, principal payments for the period amounted to PHP940 billion, while interest payments reached PHP460.1 billion. The increase in debt payments reflects the financial obligations and challenges faced by the national government in managing its debt portfolio.