The debt paid by the national government has already amounted to around P1.28 trillion in the first six months of this year, data from the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) showed.

Latest data from the Treasury showed that the Marcos administration paid a total of P1.283 trillion from January to June this year, exceeding last year's debt payments by 35 percent from P907 billion in the same period. 

The payments during the period also accounted for about 67 percent of this year’s P1.91 trillion programmed debt payments.

Data showed that of the P1.28 trillion, more than half, or P905.56 billion, was used to pay principal payments, up by 45 percent from P625.47 billion recorded last year.

Broken down, amortization on domestic debt soared to P757.43 billion as of June from P561.42 billion a year ago.

Principal payments on foreign debt jumped by P148.13 billion in the first half from P64.05 billion in the same period a year ago.

Meanwhile, interest payments rose by 34 percent to P377.23 billion in the six-month period from P282.458 billion a year ago.

Interest on local debt also increased to P268.04 billion as of the end of June from P92.884 billion last year.

Broken down, interest payments on domestic debt consisted of P170.499 billion for fixed-rate Treasury bonds, P74.661 billion for retail Treasury bonds, and P15.783 billion for Treasury bills.

Meanwhile, interest paid on foreign debt jumped to P109.19 billion in the first semester from P89.574 billion a year ago.

In June alone, the debt service bill decreased by 25 percent to P66.08 billion from P88.4 billion in the same month in 2023.

Month on month, debt payments decreased by 4 percent from P68.98 billion in May.

Almost all, or 84 percent, of the total debt servicing during the month went to interest payments.

Interest payments in June rose by 5 percent to P55.64 billion from P52.88 billion in the same month in 2023.

Interest paid to domestic creditors rose by 9 percent to P36.66 billion. This consisted of P19.18 billion in retail Treasury bonds, P13.84 billion in fixed-rate Treasury bonds, and P2.30 billion in Treasury bills.

Interest paid to external creditors surged by an annual 51 percent to P18.98 billion in June.

Meanwhile, amortization payments declined (71 percent) to P10.43 billion in June from P35.52 billion in the same month in 2023.

As of June 2024, the government debt has reached P15.48 trillion, seven percent higher than the P14.52 trillion it reached in the same month last year.

Meanwhile, the second quarter’s debt to gross domestic product (GDP) ratio increased to 60.9 percent from 60.1 percent in the previous quarter.

This figure surpassed the full-year 2023 level of 60.1 percent as well as above the 60.6 percent target for 2024. It also exceeded the recommended threshold of 60 percent for developing economies like the Philippines.