DEBT payments by the national government rose in November from year-earlier due to higher interest payments, data from the Bureau of the Treasury showed.
At P93.7 billion, the amount was markedly higher than the year-earlier P56.68 billion but lower than October’s P216.85 billion.
Interest payments drove the increase, registering at P66.65 billion compared to P48.55 billion a year ago and the month-earlier P55.39 billion.
Local creditors again accounted for almost all interest payments at P48.93 billion. This was higher than the P35.33 billion seen a in October and the year ago P35.26 billion.
Fixed-rate Treasury bonds comprised the bulk at P29.51 billion, followed by retail T-bonds (P16.87 billion) and T-bills (P2.01 billion).
Amortization accounted for the remaining P27.05 billion in overall debt payments, dropping from October’s P161.46 billion but higher than November 2023’s P8.13 billion.
Year to date, government debt payments were 22.1 percent higher at P1.95 trillion from the comparable 2023 period’s P1.6 trillion.
Interest payments as of end-November climbed to P705.33 billion, up from the P628.33 billion recorded in 2023.
Similarly, amortization expenses soared to P1.25 trillion in 2024 from P975.28 billion in 2023.
The national government’s outstanding debt climbed to a new record high of P16.09 trillion in November.
A total of P70.7 billion was added to the debt tally from October’s P16.02 trillion, and the count was also P1.58 trillion higher than the year-earlier P14.51 trillion.
Of the total debt stock, 32.13 percent was borrowed abroad, while 67.87 percent was sourced domestically.
Domestic debt hit P10.92 trillion as of end-November, higher than the P10.89 trillion recorded a month earlier and P10.02 trillion in 2023.
External debt, meanwhile, totaled P5.17 trillion as of end-November, P38.88 billion or 0.8 percent higher compared to the month-earlier P5.13 trillion.
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