The government spent P440.54 billion to settle debt obligations in the first three quarters, down 4.2 percent from P418.134 billion it allocated for debt payments a year ago, data from the Bureau of Treasury show.
Data showed both interest payments and debt amortization dropped in the nine-month period, even as borrowings increased this year.
Debt interest payments fell 2.3 percent in January to September to P249.78 billion from P225.75 billion recorded in the same period last year.
Interest payments to local creditors rose to P174.436 billion, while interest payments to foreign creditors declined to P81.315 billion.
Debt amortization also dropped 6.4 percent in the nine-month period to P190.76 billion from P203.79 billion recorded a year earlier.
Of the total amortization, P107.06 billion was used to pay local lenders while P83.7 billion was spent to settle foreign obligations.
The Treasury said in September alone, debt services dropped 3.4 percent to P39.99 billion as both interest payments and amortization decreased.
Of the said amount, P32.6 billion was in the form of interest payments while the remaining P7.39 billion was for amortization.
Outstanding government debt breached the P6-trillion mark in September following the weakening of the peso against the US dollar.
Meanwhile, government borrowings climbed to P410.2 billion in the first nine months, following a significant increase in financing sourced from the domestic market.
Latest data showed the government’s borrowings as of end-September 2016 increased 46.5 percent from P279.9 billion recorded in the same period in 2015.
Financing from the foreign market fell to P84.4 billion, while financing from the local market rose to P325.8 billion.
The Finance Department earlier said it would maintain its bias to local borrowings to shield the government from external shocks from the global market.
The government intends to borrow P538.373 billion from the local market and P157.071 billion from external sources this year, based on the budget expenditure source and financing report.
The national government will also borrow less next year to fund the proposed P3.35-trillion budget.