The national government’s debt servicing in May 2022 swelled from the previous year due to increased interest payments and amortization charges, data from the Bureau of the Treasury showed over the weekend.
Debt service bill, or the money the government required to pay the principal and interest on outstanding debt, stood at P68.980 billion in May of this year, up 40.64 percent from P49.047 billion in May 2023.
Interest payments increased 47.77 percent to P61.07 billion, or 88.57 percent of the total servicing.
From P29.529 billion a year ago to P46,071 billion in May 2024, domestic interest payments climbed by 56.01 percent.
This consisted of P2.078 billion in Treasury bills, P26.504 billion in fixed-rate Treasury bonds, P16.872 billion in retail Treasury bonds, and P617 billion in other bonds.
External interest payments saw an increase of 27.17 percent, to P15.026 billion from P11.815 billion.
Amortization costs soared from P7.883 billion to P7.703 billion, or 2.33 percent, year on year.
Debt servicing stood at P1.216 trillion in the first five months of this year, up from P819.526 billion during the January to May period last year.
Debt service bill during the first five months of 2024 include interest payments worth P321.585 billion and principal payments worth P895.126 billion.
The national government’s outstanding debt increased to P15.347 trillion as of end-May 2024 from P14,154 trillion from May 2023.
The majority or 68.03 percent of the obligation was borrowed locally at P10.442 trillion, with the remaining P4,904 billion originating from elsewhere. (TCSP)
