The national government’s total debt payments in January surged to P158.9 billion as amortization significantly 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 the first month of the year jumped by 232.21 percent versus the P47.83 billion recorded a year ago.
Amortization spiked to P84.68 billion from just P861 million in January 2023.
Of the total principal payments made during the period, only P138 million was used to pay local lenders while the larger chunk or P84.54 billion was spent to settle foreign obligations.
Interest payments in January totaled to P74.22 billion, 58.02 percent higher than the P46.97 billion paid out as of the same period the previous year.
Of the said amount, P48.82 billion was paid to domestic creditors while P25.4 billion was for international debt.
In January, the national government’s gross borrowings fell by 44.62 percent, as both external and domestic financing recorded contractions from the previous year’s level.
According to the BTr, the government’s gross financing in January amounted to P203.15 billion, lower than the P366.86 billion recorded in the same period last year.
Domestic borrowings declined by 21.08 percent to P141.51 billion in January, from the P179.3 billion recorded a year ago.
Meanwhile, foreign financing amounted to P61.65 billion, 67.13 percent lower than its year ago level of P187.56 billion.
The BTr also previously reported that the national government posted a larger budget surplus of P88 billion for January 2024 compared to the P45.7 billion recorded a year ago, reflecting an increase of 92.25 percent.
The agency said the fiscal outturn was brought about by a faster 21.15 percent year-over-year increase in revenue collection outpacing the 10.39 percent expansion in government spending.
In particular, total revenue for the first month of the year rose to P421.8 billion from P348.2 billion last year, driven by higher tax collections which comprised 91.31 percent or P385.2 billion of the total collection.
National government disbursements for January likewise sped up to P333.9 billion, higher relative to last year’s spending of P302.4 billion.
