Gov’t debt servicing drops slightly

The government spent P511.1 billion in the eight months to August to pay off debt, 3 percent less than the P525.1 billion settled in the same period last year, according to the Bureau of Treasury.

The government continued to show a downtrend for debt servicing compared to the previous year as payments for amortization fell during the period.

From January to August, the government settled a total of P290 billion in principal, including P250.2 billion in domestic debt and P39.8 billion in foreign loans.

Total principal payment in those eight months was 12 percent lower than the P328.5 billion posted in the year-ago period.

Also, the government paid a total of 221.1 billion in interest, covering P138.4 billion in domestic debt and P82.7 billion in foreign borrowings.

Total interest payments for the period was 12 percent higher than the P196.6 billion recorded in the same period of 2011.

Budget Secretary Florencio B. Abad said earlier this month that national government spending during the eight-month period continued to post a double-digit increase, even as savings were incurred due to lower-than-expected interest payments.

Abad noted that non-interest expenses grew faster at 15.1 percent than interest payments.

BTr data showed that the biggest contributors to new debt this year continued to be the issuance of P179.8 billion in retail treasury bonds and P66 billion in global bonds, as well as P279.3 billion in regular domestic bonds.

Along with P66 billion worth of global dollar bonds, these pushed the government’s financing position during those eight months to a net borrowing of P220 billion, or more than 14 times the P15.4 billion recorded in the year-ago period.

In August alone, the government paid a total of P66.3 billion in financial obligations, including P51.2 billion for domestic debt and P15.1 billion in foreign loans.

The month’s total was 9 percent lower than the P73.2 billion paid out in the same month last year.

As for principal payments, the Treasury shelled out P46.5 billion in August, lower by 11 percent than the previous P52.3 billion.

Interest payments for the month reached P19.8 billion, or 5 percent less than the P20.9 billion settled in the same month last year.