The government’s debt payments increased 6.8 percent year-on-year in the first two months of 2024 because of higher amortization, according to the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr).
Data from the BTr showed that the debt service reached P452.51 billion from January to February, higher than P423.54 billion recorded in the same period last year.
It said that debt payment amounted to P294.61 billion in February, lower than P375.71 billion paid a year ago.
The government settled P122.04 billion in interest in the first two months of 2024, up 50.53 percent from P81.07 billion a year earlier.
Interest payments to domestic creditors amounted to P83.17 billion, while those to external creditors reached P38.87 billion.
Broken down, the government paid P62.60 billion in fixed-rate Treasury bonds (T-bonds), P11.30 billion in retail T-bonds, P5.86 billion in Treasury bills (T-bills) and P3.4 billion in other instruments.
Meanwhile, about P86.70 billion in debt principal was paid to external creditors.
The BTr earlier said the national government’s debt jumped 10.4 percent year-on-year to surpass P15 trillion for the first time in February 2024.
It said of the total debt stock, 30.32 percent was external debt and 69.68 percent, domestic debt.
Domestic debt reached P10.58 trillion as of end-February, or 4.08 percent higher than the end-January 2024 level following the net issuance of government securities.
Meanwhile, external debt reached P4.60 trillion, down by 0.56 percent from the end-January 2024 level.