The National Government’s (NG) debt service bill fell to P64.358 billion in July due to a drop in amortization payments, the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) said.
Data from the BTr showed that debt payments declined by 58.8% from the P156.198 billion in the same month a year ago.
In July, the bulk (98.7%) of the debt service bill consisted of interest payments.
Total interest payments jumped by 22% to P63.55 billion during the month from P52.091 billion in the same month in 2022.
Interest on local debt rose by 20.3% to P39.002 billion. Broken down, this consisted of P33.482 billion in fixed-rate Treasury bonds, P3.575 billion in retail Treasury bonds, and P1.481 billion in Treasury bills.
Interest paid on foreign debt increased by 24.8% to P24.548 billion.
Meanwhile, principal payments plunged by 99.2% to P808 million in July from P104.107 billion a year ago.
Of this, payments for domestic debt fell to P79 million from P103.46 billion, while amortization from foreign debt slid to P729 million from P647 million.
In the seven months to July, debt payments jumped by 58.2% to P972.3 billion, from P614.6 billion in the same period a year ago.
Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. Chief Economist Michael L. Ricafort said in a Viber message that the lower debt servicing in July was likely due to the lower amount of maturing government bonds during the month.
The government’s total debt service program this year is set at P1.55 trillion, composed of P610.665 billion in interest payments and P941.353 billion in amortization payments. — Luisa Maria Jacinta C. Jocson