PH debt payments down 14% in 4 months

The Bureau of Treasury reported that the Philippines’ total debt payment in the first four months of 2012 was down 14 percent at P299.81 billion compared with the P350.29 billion paid in the same period last year.

The government spent P299.81 billion in the four months ending April to pay its debts, down 14 percent from the P350.29 billion in obligations settled a year ago, according to the Bureau of the Treasury.

The amount spent in debt servicing continued to be lower compared to the previous year’s as payments for principal debt fell in the first four months.

From January to April, the government settled a total of P185.19 billion in principal, including P166.36 billion in domestic debts and P18.83 billion in foreign loans.

Total principal payment in the four months was 25 percent lower than the P248.14 billion posted a year ago.

Also, the government paid a total of P114.63 billion in interest, covering P66.88 billion in local debts and P47.75 billion in foreign borrowings.

Total interest payment for the period was 12 percent higher than the P102.15 billion recorded in the same period of 2011.

Budget Secretary Florencio B. Abad said earlier this month that interest payments as of April increased mainly due to higher issuances of fixed-rate treasury bills and retail treasury bonds (RTBs) in view of the bigger deficit financing requirement for this year.

Treasury data showed that the biggest contributors to new debts incurred from January to April were the issuance of P179.8 billion in RTBs and P121.36 billion in regular domestic bonds.