Debt payments ease to P1.65 trillion in 9 months

MANILA, Philippines — The country’s debt service bill fell by 11.7 percent to P1.65 trillion in the nine-month period ending September from last year’s P1.87 trillion, reflecting the timing of debt payments rather than the easing of the government’s debt pile.

Data from the Bureau of the Treasury showed that the amortization payments likewise dropped by 27 percent to P878.21 billion in the January-to-September period from P1.2 trillion in the same period a year ago.

Roughly 84 percent of the total amortization or P741.01 billion was remitted to domestic sources while the remaining P137.2 billion were paid to external creditors.

On the other hand, interest payments increased by 16 percent to P772.05 billion during the nine-month period from P665.85 billion the year prior.

About 76 percent of the interest payments or P584.74 billion were paid to domestic creditors.

Broken down, the government paid P404.52 billion in fixed-rate Treasury bonds, P131.24 billion in retail T-bonds and P41.15 billion in Treasury bills (T-bills).

It also settled P187.32 billion in interest owed to foreign financiers for the period ending September.

For September alone, the debt service bill stood at P207.46 billion, down by 36.7 percent from P327.89 billion in the same month in 2025.

As of September, the current debt payments represented 80.7 percent of the P2.05 trillion program this year, as indicated in the latest Budget of Expenditures and Sources of Financing document.

Principal amortization payments had reached 83.7 percent of the P1.05-trillion full-year allocation, while interest payments made up 77.5 percent of the P995.61-billion program.

Latest data showed that the Philippines’ outstanding debt climbed to a record P19.66 trillion as of end-September, due to additional borrowings and peso depreciation.