Government debt payments reach P962.5 billion in 2020

MANILA, Philippines — The national government spent P962.466 billion to settle its local and foreign debts in 2020, according to the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr).

Debt service payments for the whole of 2020 rose by over 14 percent from P842.45 billion in 2019 as principal payments, paid on a monthly basis, were ramped up toward the end of the year.

The bulk of the total debt service in 2020 was used to pay for amortization amounting to P582.054 billion, while the remaining P380.412 billion went to interest payments for foreign and local and debt instruments issued.

Amortizations for domestic creditors reached P440.401 billion, while principal payments to foreign creditors amounted to P141.653 billion.

In December alone, amortizations rose to P48.442 billion from P6.752 billion in November when no principal payments to local creditors were made.

Meanwhile, P279.056 billion in interest payments were made for issuances of domestic debt instruments that include Treasury bills and bonds, while P101.356 billion in interest payment were made for foreign debt papers.

The national government’s outstanding debt rose to fresh record high of P10.327 trillion ending in January as the government ramped up local borrowings to fund its pandemic responses.

The national debt level in January was 5.4 percent higher from end-December 2020 level largely because of the reavailment of the P540 billion short-term loan facility from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP).

Out of the total debt stock, 71 percent came from domestic borrowings and 29 percent was sourced externally.

Domestic debt amounted to P7.325 trillion, 9.4 percent higher compared to the end-December 2020 level owing to increased domestic financing and the provisional advances from the BSP.

The country’s foreign debt of P3.001 trillion was 3.2 percent lower than the previous month due to the net repayment of foreign loans amounting to P93.49 billion and peso depreciation against the dollar.

Total government guaranteed obligations, meanwhile, fell slightly by 0.4 percent month-on-month to P456.39 billion in January after net repayments worth P320 million and P180 million were made to both local and foreign guarantees.