The national government’s total debt payments in the first four months of the year jumped 48.96 percent as both amortization and interest payments rose from the previous year’s level, data released by the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) showed.
According to the latest cash operations report, the national government’s debt payments in January to April stood at P1.15 trillion, higher than the P770.48 billion recorded during the same period a year ago.
Amortization rose by 52.38 percent to P887.24 billion from the P582.25 billion paid out in January to April 2023.
On the other hand, interest payments as of April totaled to P260.49 billion, which went up 38.39 percent from the P188.23 billion paid out as of the same period the previous year.
In April alone, debt payments amounted to P161.7 billion, down 21.03 percent from the year ago level of P204.76 billion.
Amortization amounted to P94.2 billion, posting a 40.57 percent decline from the P158.51 billion in the same period last year.
Interest payments, meanwhile, totaled to P67.5 billion, 45.93 percent up from the April 2023 level of P46.25 billion.
According to the BTr, the increase in interest payments was due to the timing of payments for domestic securities and the impact of foreign exchange fluctuations on foreign borrowings.
The BTr previously reported that the national government posted a lower budget surplus in April compared to a year ago amid the acceleration in public expenditures.
The government achieved a P42.7 billion budget surplus for April, 36.03 percent lower than last year’s P66.8 billion.
The BTr attributed the smaller surplus for the month to the significant growth in expenditures, which outpaced the rise in revenue collection.
As a result, the year-to-date budget deficit stood at P229.9 billion, up 12.66 percent than last year’s level.
