THE state’s payments for its debt obligations in the first two months of the year rose by 6.84 percent to P452.513 billion from P423.545 billion in the same period of 2023, according to the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr).
Latest data from the Treasury showed the country’s debt service as of end-February increased due to higher amortization payments, which made up 73.03 percent of the entire debt service for the said period.
Amortization payments, which reached P330.465 billion, were lower by 3.50 percent than the P342.466 billion recorded in the two-month period last year.
The payments made by the state for domestic amortization also dropped by 19.67 percent to P243.763 billion from P303.464 billion in the same period in 2023.
External amortization reached P86.702 billion, higher by 99.77 percent than the P39.002 billion posted in the first two months of 2023.
In terms of interest payments, the national government paid a total of P122.048 billion for the first two months of the year, higher by 50.53 percent from the P81.079 billion recorded in 2023.
Treasury data showed that the state’s domestic and foreign interest payments both posted double-digit growth rates during the January to February period.
The government paid P83.173 billion in domestic interest payments, 71.24 percent higher than it did in 2023 at P48.571 billion.
Meanwhile, foreign interest payments rose by 19.58 percent to P38.875 billion from P32.508 billion in 2023.
Domestic interest payments were composed mainly of interest payments for Fixed Rate Treasury Bonds at P62.602 billion, followed by Retail Treasury Bonds at P11.309 billion, Treasury Bills at P5.861 billion, and others at P3.401 billion.
For February, interest payments decreased by 35.56 percent to P47.827 billion from P74.221 billion in January, with both domestic and external interest payments also declining to P34.350 billion and P13.477 billion, respectively.
Amortization payments in February, meanwhile, went down by 28.68 percent to P243.625 billion from P341.605 billion in January.
Domestic amortization rose to P243.487 billion from P138 million in January this year, while external amortization shrunk by 97.44 percent from P84.539 billion to P2.163 billion in February.
Last year, the state reported a total of P1.603 trillion in debt payments, with amortization at P975.278 billion outpacing interest payments at P628.333 billion.
Debt service in 2023 rose by 23.97 percent to P1.603 trillion compared to the P1.293 trillion total recorded in the previous year.