The national government’s total debt payments in the first three quarters of the year amounted to P889.85 billion, data released by the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) showed.
According to the latest cash operations report, the national government’s debt payment in January to September was 7.67 percent lower than the P963.78 billion paid out in the same period a year ago.
Amortization declined by 21.55 percent to P489.87 billion from the P624.43 billion paid out in the same period the previous year.
Of the total principal payments made during the period, P407.94 billion was used to pay local lenders while P81.93 billion was spent to settle foreign obligations.
Meanwhile, interest payments as of September totaled to P399.98 billion, 17.87 percent higher than the P339.35 billion paid out as of the same period the previous year.
The BTr said the interest payment made in the nine-month period was 2.88 percent lower than the P411.8 billion program as of end-September.
Of the said amount, P306.21 billion was paid to domestic creditors while P93.77 billion was for international debt.
In September alone, debt payments amounted to P207 billion, 280 percent higher from the year ago level of P54.45 billion.
Amortization amounted to P147.1 billion while interest payments totaled to P59.9 billion.
Earlier this month, the BTr reported that the national government’s total outstanding debt as of end-September stood at P13.52 trillion, posting a 13.4 percent increase from the P11.92 trillion recorded a year ago.
For the month, the BTr said the national government’s total debt increased by P495.54 billion or 3.8 percent primarily due to the peso depreciation against the US dollar and the net issuance of government securities to support the budget.
Of the total debt stock, 31.2 percent was sourced externally while 68.8 percent were domestic borrowings.
