Gov’t debt payments almost double to P53.8 billion in April

The amount of money that the government pays for its debts nearly doubled last April, according to data from the Bureau of the Treasury.

They showed that the government paid P53.8 billion of its debts last April compared to P23.2 billion in the same month in 2018, or an increase of 93 percent.

In April 2019, the government paid at least P23.5 billion in interests alone, up from P23.2 billion in the same month in 2018.

Interest earned by treasury bills and bonds ate up P16.5 billon of government funds while foreign interest payments reached P7 billion.

The same set of data showed that the government paid P30.3 billion in principal in April 2019, nearly four times that of the same month in 2018 when the government paid just P4.7 billion.

Payment for domestic loans incurred by the government and serviced by the Board Sinking Fund and Central Bank Board of Liquidators amounted to P25.9 billion.

At least P4.4 billion was paid for principal of foreign loans, the Treasury said.

From January to April 2019, the government paid a total of P274 billion in debt—P142.7 billion in principal and P131.3 billion in interests. (Editor: Tony Bergonia)