THE national government trimmed its debt payments by 40 percent in the first six months of the year as amortization payments dropped, latest data from the Bureau of the Treasury showed.
At P768.1 billion, the January to June debt service was 40.1 percent lower than the P1.28 trillion recorded a year earlier.
Of the total, P353.29 billion was used for amortization, lower than the year-earlier P905.56 billion.
The remaining P414.82 billion was used for interest payments, which is up from the P377.23 billion posted in the same period last year.
Local creditors accounted for almost all interest expenses at P299.83 billion, higher than the P268.04 billion recorded in the January to June period last year.
This comprised fixed rate Treasury bonds (P193.68 billion), retail T-bonds (P79.26 billion) and T-bills (P21.85 billion).
Foreign interest payments, meanwhile, rose to P114.99 billion in the first half from P109.19 billion last year.
For amortization, P170.46 billion was domestic while P182.83 billion was foreign.
In June alone, debt payments were at P65.14 billion, also lower than the P66.08 billion recorded in the same month in 2024. It was also down from the P80.05 billion recorded in May 2025.
Interest payments accounted for the bulk at P57.42 billion, up from P55.64 billion last year but down from P69.95 billion a month earlier.
Amortization totaled P7.72 billion for the month, also down from P10.43 billion last year and P10.09 billion a month earlier.
The national government’s outstanding debt ballooned to a fresh high of P17.27 trillion in June.
The amount was P348.45 billion more than May’s P16.92 trillion, P1.78 trillion higher than the year-earlier P15.48 trillion and P1.22 trillion up from the P16.05 trillion recorded at the end of 2024.
Of the total debt stock, 30.8 percent was borrowed abroad while 69.2 percent was sourced domestically.
Domestic debt rose to P11.95 trillion as of end-June, higher than the P11.78 trillion recorded in May and P10.57 trillion a year ago.
External debt, meanwhile, totaled P5.32 trillion, P178.56 billion higher compared to the month-earlier P5.14 trillion.
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