Debt payments reach P608 billion in 7 months
MANILA, Philippines — The government spent P608.26 billion from January to July to pay off its maturing debt, up 27.33 percent from P477.71 billion a year ago, according to the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr).
This is despite the 34.12 percent decline in debt service in July, which reached P60.91 billion compared to last year’s P92.46 billion.
The government allocates a portion of its budget to settle its obligations on a monthly basis, depending on their maturity.
According to the Treasury, the bulk, or 59.4 percent, of the total debt service as of end-July was used for amortization, while the remaining 40.6 percent went to interest payments.
Principal payments amounted to P361.2 billion, up by 46.42 percent from P246.68 billion in the same period in 2019.
The BTr said P246.21 billion of the total went to domestic lenders, while nearly P115 billion was paid to foreign creditors.
Meanwhile, interest payments in the first seven months increased by 6.94 percent to P247.06 billion from P231.04 billion in the same period last year.
Interest payments accounted for 14.64 percent of the total revenues from January to July, rising from the previous year’s level of 12.75 percent due to lower collections.
On the other hand, interest payments as a percentage of expenditures improved to 10.34 percent from 11.97 percent due to faster spending, driven by coronavirus-related expenses.
The national government generated P1.69 trillion in total revenues in the first seven months, 6.84 percent lower than the P1.81 trillion posted in the same period last year.
Disbursements, meanwhile, grew by 23.78 percent to P2.39 trillion from P1.93 trillion.
This resulted in a fiscal deficit of P700.6 billion, 494 percent wider than the P117.9 billion deficit recorded in the same period last year.
To bridge the country’s fiscal deficit, which is expected to reach P1.82 trillion or 9.6 percent of gross domestic product this year, the government is planning to borrow up to P3 trillion from both domestic and foreign lenders in 2020.
As of end-July, the national government’s outstanding debt has reached a new record high of P9.16 trillion, 1.2 percent higher than the end-June level of P9.05 trillion.
- Latest
- Trending