The debt service bill of the Marcos administration declined in August after amortization payments weakened, data from the Bureau of the Treasury showed.
Total debt payments hit P68.3 billion in August this year, down nine percent compared with P75.08 billion in the same month last year, the Treasury bureau reported.
Based on the document, the decline was caused by the 27 percent reduction in the government’s principal payment, which amounted to P37.52 billion from P51.15 billion a year earlier.
Of that amount, P22.77 billion were paid to domestic creditors, while the remaining balance of P14.75 billion went to offshore lenders.
Interest payments, on the other hand, rose 28 from P23.93 billion in August last year to P30.77 billion.
During the month, the government settled P20.39 billion with domestic lenders, while principal payments to foreign creditors amounted to P10.38 billion.
In the first eight-months of the year, debt servicing reached P682.85 billion, 25 percent lower from P909.32 billion in the same period in 2021.
Interest payments increased 16 percent at end-August to P340.01 billion from P291.49 billion a year ago.
This consisted of P258.49 billion in domestic debt and P81.58 billion in foreign obligations.
Meanwhile, total amortization payments in January to August hit P342.77 billion, significantly lower than the P617.83 billion in the previous year. Of that amount, P279.6 billion was used to settle local debt and P63.16 billion to foreign banks.
Earlier, the treasury bureau said that the government’s gross borrowings dropped 42 percent to P1.379 trillion in January to August from P2.387 trillion in the same period in 2021.
The decline in government financing was driven by the 46 percent contraction in domestic borrowings, according to the treasury data.
At end-August, total borrowings of the government from local creditors reached P1.041 trillion, down from P1.929 trillion a year ago.
External borrowings also decreased in the first eight-months by 26 percent from P458.51 billion to P337.79 billion.