Gov’t debt payments rose 9% to P385.1B as of end-May

The amount of debt settled by the national government grew 9 percent to P385.1 billion at end-May as both interest and principal payments increased.

Debt payments during the first five months rose from P353.3 billion a year ago, the latest Bureau of the Treasury data showed.

End-May interest payments increased to P141.4 billion from P132.3 billion last year.

The five-month payments for interest included P95.1 billion for domestic liabilities, including government securities, on top of P46.4 billion for foreign borrowings.

Amortization payments also went up to P243.7 billion as of May from a year ago’s P221 billion.

Domestic amortization, which reflected actual principal repayments to creditors, including those serviced by the Bond Sinking Fund, amounted P170.2 billion.

Foreign amortization, which included prepayments made due to bond exchange transactions, meanwhile, reached P73.5 billion.

For 2018, the government had programmed to settle a total of P682.5 billion in debt, lower than last year’s P705 billion.

Interest payments for this year would amount to P353.4 billion, while principal amortization would reach P329.1 billion.