The government’s debt payments jumped 232 percent in January 2024 on higher amortization, according to the Bureau of the Treasury.
Data from the BTr showed that the debt service reached P158.89 billion in January, up from P47.83 billion in the same period last year.
The government paid P74.22 billion in interest in January, higher by 58 percent than P46.97 billion a year ago.
Interest payments to domestic creditors amounted to P48.82 billion, while those to external creditors reached P25.39 billion.
Broken down, the government paid P40.92 billion in fixed-rate Treasury bonds (T-bonds), P3.57 billion in retail T-bonds, P2.59 billion in Treasury bills (T-bills) and P1.72 billion in other instruments.
Meanwhile, about P84.53 billion in debt principal was paid to external creditors.
Data released by BTr earlier showed that the national government ’s total outstanding debt hit P14.79 trillion as of end-January, a 1.19-percent increase from the previous month.
It said that of the total debt stock, 31.29 percent represented external debt and 68.71 percent, domestic obligations.
Domestic debt rose P144 billion, or 1.44 percent, to P10.16 trillion as of end-January following the net issuance of government securities.
Gross issuance of domestic debt reached P211.11 billion, while principal payments totaled P69.67 billion, resulting in a net issuance of P141.44 billion.
External debt reached P4.63 trillion, up by P29.66 billion or 0.65 percent from the end- December 2023 level.