The national government’s debt payments declined in July this year due to lower amortization, data from the Bureau of the Treasury showed.

The Duterte administration settled P60.91 billion worth of loans in the domestic and foreign markets last July, down by 11 percent compared with P92.46 billion in the same month last year.

Total amortization during the month decelerated by 96 percent to only P1.53 billion from P41.49 billion a year ago.

The contraction was due to zero amortization payment in the local market, a reversal of the P39.94 billion last year, the Treasury data showed.

Interest payment, meanwhile, reached P59.56 billion, higher by 17 percent year-on-year from P50.97 billion. Domestic creditors cornered P34.39 billion of the total, up 12 percent compared with P30.64 billion.

The government’s interest payments to foreign lenders, on the other hand, increased by 23 percent from P20.32 billion to P25 billion in July 2020.

The July debt payments of the national government brought its total first seven-month tally to P608.26 billion, an increase of 27 percent than the P477.72 billion in the same period last year.

Total amortization at end-July stood at P361.2 billion, higher by 46 percent compared with P246.68 billion last year, while interest payments jumped by 7 percent from P231.04 billion to P247 billion.

But the level of debt payments of the government is lower than the amount it borrowed during the same month.

The treasury had reported that the national government jacked up its borrowing in July to bridge the widening budget deficit amid weak revenue collections.

The gross borrowings hit P134.53 billion in that month, a reversal of the government’s P1.09 billion payment a year ago.

Foreign financing rose from only P3.21 billion last year to P67.69 billion. Of that amount, P63.73 billion were program loans and P3.96 billion were project loans.

Domestically, the government also borrowed P66.84 billion, a reversal of the P4.3 billion payment a year ago. More than half of local financing were raised through the sale of Treasury bills at P36.86 billion, while the remaining balance of P30 billion were Treasury bonds.

The July borrowing brought the national government’s first seven-month tally to a record P1.856 trillion.

For 2020, the national government plans to borrow P3 trillion from domestic and foreign creditors to finance the Duterte administration’s fiscal deficit ceiling of P1.815 trillion.

Amid increased borrowing program, the national government's outstanding debt rose to P9.164 trillion as of July this year.

In 2020, the Duterte administration expects the outstanding debt will hit more than P10 trillion.