The national government’s total debt service as of end-May spiked by 70.17 percent compared to the same period a year ago mainly due to a surge in amortization payments.
Data from the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) showed the government’s total debt payments have already reached P512.960 billion for the first five months of the year from P301.443 billion as of end-May last year.
Of the total debt service for the period, the bulk (68.79 percent) went to amortization payments while 31.21 percent was used to pay for interest.
Total amortization payments to both domestic and external sources for the same period this year doubled to P352.845 billion from last year’s P150.468 billion.
On the other hand, interest payments of the government for the January to May period this year rose by 6.05 percent to P160.115 billion when compared to the P150.975 billion in interest payment in the same period last year.
For May alone, the government’s debt payments dropped by 10.09 percent to P24.642 billion when compared to the P27.407 billion of debt payments in the same month last year.
The figure also represents an 83.39-percent plunge from the total debt service of P148.34 billion in April alone this year.
Most of the debt service in May (74.48 percent) was used to pay interest while 25.52 percent of the amount went to amortization payments solely for external sources.
Interest payments in May this year slid by 6.69 percent to P18.353 billion from P19.669 billion a year ago. The figure is 16.12-percent lower than the P21.88 billion in interest payments for April.
Amortization payments for May also dropped by 18.73 percent to P6.289 billion from P7.738 billion in the same month last year. The amount represents a 95.03-percent dive from P126.46 billion in April.
Under this year’s national budget, the government earmarked a total of P1.033 trillion for debt service.
Of the earmarked amount, P450.964 billion was appropriated for the payment of the payment of interest and P582.088 billion was allotted for the payment of principal amortization of foreign and domestic indebtedness.
Last year, the government’s total debt service reached P842.449 billion, up by 16.11 percent from P725.59 billion in 2018.
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