Amid record-high borrowings, the Marcos administration increased debt payments by over ₱400 billion in 2024, bringing total settlements to a record high, too, driven largely by higher amortization.

Data from the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) showed that the government’s debt payments climbed by over 26 percent to ₱2.02 trillion last year, from ₱1.60 trillion in 2023.

The bulk of debt payments went toward principal payments or amortization at ₱1.26 trillion, more than 80 percent of which is domestic repayment at ₱1.02 trillion.

This continued the trend seen in 2023, with amortization payments taking up the largest portion while domestic repayment made up nearly 90 percent of the total.

Last year’s amortization payments increased by over 29 percent or ₱284.7 billion from ₱975.3 billion in 2023.

Offshore amortization payments nearly doubled last year at ₱239.3 billion from ₱121.1 billion in 2023. This is equivalent to over ₱118 billion additional payment to foreign creditors.

Over 38 percent of the total debt payments, or ₱763.3 billion, were interest payments.

This is an increase of ₱135 billion or over 21 percent from ₱628.3 billion the previous year.

Nearly 71 percent of the total were domestic interest payments at ₱539.8 billion, which climbed by over ₱104 billion or nearly 24 percent from ₱435.7 billion in the year earlier.

Foreign creditors received the remaining over 29 percent of the total interest payments, which stood at ₱223.5 billion. This figure rose by nearly P31 billion or over 16 percent from ₱192.6 billion in the previous year.

Despite the higher payments year-on-year, recent reports showed that the Marcos administration’s gross borrowings jumped to ₱2.56 trillion in 2024 due to massive increases in both domestic and foreign borrowings.

Gross borrowings went up ₱370 billion last year, equivalent to a nearly 17 percent hike from ₱2.19 trillion in 2023.

Last year’s total loans exceeded the Marcos administration’s borrowing plan by ₱100 billion. It was more than four percent higher than the programmed ₱2.46 trillion for the year.

The country’s gross domestic debt surged by ₱290 billion to ₱1.92 trillion in 2024, an 18 percent hike from 2023. While domestic debt made up 75 percent of total borrowings, it remained below the 80:20 target borrowing mix.

The government exceeded its ₱1.85 trillion domestic borrowing plan by ₱70 billion in 2024. While fixed-rate Treasury bond (T-bond) borrowings slightly dipped, retail T-bonds and Treasury bills (T-bills) more than doubled from 2023 levels.

Gross foreign debt rose by over ₱82 billion to ₱641.2 billion in 2024, a 15 percent increase from the previous year. This also surpassed the government's planned external borrowings of ₱606.9 billion.

External debt included ₱271.3 billion in program loans, ₱256.2 billion from global bonds, and ₱113.6 billion in project loans.