Debt payments up 9.9% to P415.9B in H1

The amount of debt settled by the national government climbed by almost a tenth to P415.9 billion in the first half as both amortization and interest payments rose.

Debt payments from January to June increased 9.9 percent from P378.4 billion a year ago, the latest Bureau of the Treasury data showed.

End-June principal payments rose to P250.4 billion from P226.8 billion last year.

Domestic amortization, which reflected actual principal repayments to creditors, including those serviced by the Bond Sinking Fund, reached P170.4 billion.

Foreign amortization, which included prepayments made due to bond exchange transactions, amounted to P80 billion.

Interest payments also increased to P165.5 billion from a year ago’s P151.6 billion.

The six-month payments for interest included P114.6 billion for domestic liabilities, including government securities, besides P50.9 billion for foreign borrowings.

For the entire year, the government had programmed to service debt worth P733.7 billion, bigger than last year’s P680.4 billion.

Interest payments for 2018 had been programmed at P354 billion, on top of P379.7 billion in principal amortization.