The government increased debt service by 59% to P1.48 trillion from January to October, according to data from the Department of Finance.
95% of programmed obligations resolved
MANILA, Philippines — The Marcos administration has increased debt service payments to P1.48 trillion as of the end of October, resolving about 95% of the annual planned debt.
The government increased debt service by 59% to P1.48 trillion from January to October, according to data from the Department of Finance.
This means that as of the end of October, the government had settled 95.3% of the total debt service for 2023, reaching a record high of P1.55 trillion.
This is split into an 80:20 combination in favor of domestic creditors.
During the same period, 65% of the debt service amount was allocated to principal repayment or redemption of P958.96 billion.
This is almost double the P496.5 billion paid in the same period last year.
Therefore, the government has exceeded the principal amount worth P941.35 billion to comply with the scheduled debt repayment in 2023.
Meanwhile, interest payments increased by 20% over the 10-month period to P519.11 billion.
This represents 85% of the P610.67 billion expected to be used for interest payments in 2023.
Amortization costs are used to repay loan principal, and interest payments are used to satisfy interest obligations.
P853.94 billion, or 89% of the amount, was transferred to domestic creditors as amortization expenses.
The remaining principal payment of P105.02 billion was paid to foreign sources.
Meanwhile, nearly 70 percent of the P356.93 billion in interest payments was issued to domestic creditors.
In breakdown, the government paid P222.66 billion in interest on fixed-rate government bonds, P116.38 billion on retail government bonds, and P13.8 billion on Treasury bills.
The Treasury sells bonds every week to raise money for public programs and projects.
Short-term government bonds have a remaining maturity of 91 days, 182 days, or 364 days, while long-term government bonds have maturities of up to 20 years or more.
Apart from payments to local lenders, the government settled P162.17 billion in interest payments to foreign lenders.
As of the end of October, the national debt had increased to a record high of P14.48 trillion.