The national government’s total debt payments in the first quarter jumped 74.3 percent as both interest payments and amortization 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 March stood at P986.04 billion, much higher than the P565.72 billion recorded during the same period a year ago.
Amortization rose by 87.15 percent to P793.04 billion from the P423.74 billion paid out in January to March 2023.
Interest payments as of March totaled to P192.99 billion, also up 35.93 percent from the P141.98 billion paid out as of the same period the previous year.
In March alone, debt payments amounted to P533.52 billion, recording a significant increase from P142.17 billion in the same period in 2023.
Amortization amounted to P462.58 billion, while interest payments accounted for the remaining P70.94 billion.
The BTr earlier said interest payments for March went up by 16.5 percent due to coupon payments for domestic securities and the downward adjustments to last year’s interest payments due to premia on re-issued bonds.
According to the BTr, the country’s budget deficit narrowed in March as revenues recorded a double-digit hike, outpacing the slight increase in expenditures.
The government incurred a P195.9 billion budget shortfall in March, 6.82 percent lower versus last year’s P210.3 billion.
This led to a cumulative budget gap of P272.6 billion for the first quarter of 2024, marking a slight increase of 0.65 percent from the P270.9 billion fiscal deficit recorded for the same period a year ago.