Downtrend in gov’t debt servicing continues

MANILA, Philippines - The government continued to show a downtrend in its debt servicing for the first 10 months this year, with payments for amortization declining significantly.

According to the latest data from the Bureau of Treasury, debt servicing from January to October amounted to P357 billion, down 28.3percent from P498.04 billion in the same period last year.

The government settled a total of P82.83 billion in principal, including P79.66 billion in foreign loans and P3.18 billion in domestic debts.

Total principal payment in the 10-month period was 137.7 percent lower than the P219.47 billion recorded in the year ago period.

The government also paid a total of P274.16 billion in interest, covering P182.74 billion on domestic obligations and P91.42 billion on foreign borrowings.

Total interest payments marked a slight decrease from the P278.56 billion settled the previous year.

In October alone, government debt payments totaled P19.88 billion, 28.7 percent less than the P27.9 billion paid in the same month a year earlier.

Of the P19.88 billion, P16.77 billion comprised interest payments while the balance of P4.69 billion made up principal payments.

The government’s outstanding debt rose 1.2 percent to P5.71 trillion as of October as the state continued to rely on borrowings to fund its expenditure requirements.

The latest figure, however, was lower than the P5.72 trillion registered in September due to the net redemption of government securities.

Bulk of the amount or about P3.75 trillion was accounted for by borrowings from the domestic market.  This represented a 0.1 percent decline from a year ago.

The balance of P1.96 trillion came from foreign borrowings.  This was down year on year by 0.3 percent.

The government intends to return to the international debt market next year with a planned issuance of at least  $750 million in bonds.