Debt payments slid in Jan. to P70B

The amount of debt paid by the government in January declined 57 percent to P70.006 billion on lower amortization as well as interest payments.

Debt payments last January were almost three-fifths less than the P160.959 billion paid during the same month last year, the latest Bureau of the Treasury data showed.

In January, the government paid P42.353 billion in interest, down from P45.594 billion a year ago.

Interest worth P21.322 billion was for domestic debt, mainly through the sale of Treasury bills and bonds.

The remaining P21.031 billion in interest payments was for foreign borrowings.

The government also paid P27.653 billion in amortization in January, a big drop from P115.365 billion last year.

Amortization payments for domestic borrowings amounted to P64 million, while the bulk worth P27.589 billion was paid for foreign debt.

For 2017, the government had programmed to pay P647.278 billion in debt, of which P334.876 billion will go to interest payments while P312.403 billion will be for principal amortization.

In 2016, the P789.965 billion in debt payments were lower than 2015’s P797.259 billion, Treasury data showed.

Interest payments last year reached P304.454 billion, while amortization amounted to P485.511 billion.

Gross borrowings for 2017 had been programmed to reach P631.294 billion.

As domestic interest rates remain relatively low, the Duterte administration wanted to finance its programmed wider budget deficit equivalent to 3 percent of the gross domestic product in the next six years through a borrowing mix of 80 percent local and 20 percent foreign.

National Treasurer Rosalia V. De Leon earlier said the government was “in the right trajectory in terms of meeting the [2017 borrowing] mix.”

The government will borrow domestically through the sale of treasury bills and bonds a total of P180 billion in the second quarter, similar to the volume programmed during the first three months.