Debt payments up 9.9% to P324.8B in 1st half

THE AMOUNT of debt paid by the government in the first half of the year rose by 9.9 percent to P324.8 billion from P295.6 billion a year ago due to higher amortization payments.

The latest Bureau of the Treasury data showed that amortization payments increased by 24.1 percent to P168.7 billion as of end-June from P135.9 billion in the same period last year.

The bigger share of P124.1 billion was paid as amortization for domestic liabilities, while the remaining P44.6 billion paid for foreign debt.

In June alone, payments for amortization increased to P4.7 billion from the P4.3 billion paid a year ago. All of the amortization paid that month was for foreign obligations.

First-half interest payments, meanwhile, decreased by 2.3 percent to P156.1 billion from P159.7 billion last year.

For domestic debt, P108.9 billion in interest was paid as of end-June, while P47.2 billion went to foreign borrowings.

In June, interest payments totaled P19.2 billion, down from P19.6 billion a year ago. Interest paid for domestic obligations reached P15.7 billion, while that for foreign liabilities amounted to P3.5 billion.

In June, the government’s debt payments totaled P23.9 billion, similar to the amount of debt paid in the same month last year.

The government serviced P515 billion in debt in 2014—the least in over a decade—on the back of record-low amortization payments.

The total amount of debt paid last year was down 7.9 percent from P559 billion in payments in 2013.