The national government’s debt service payments surged more than eightfold in February as the massive spike in domestic principal repayments outweighed the marginal rise in interest costs

Based on the latest data from the Bureau of the Treasury, total government debt obligations settled during the month reached ₱430.6 billion, up from only ₱52.2 billion in the same period a year ago

The triple-digit percentage increase was driven almost entirely by amortization, which accounted for 88.6 percent of the month's total outlays. Principal repayments vaulted to ₱381.7 billion, a staggering jump from the ₱3.7 billion recorded a year earlier

The surge in amortization was concentrated in the domestic market, where payments skyrocketed to ₱378.5 billion from ₱121 million.

In contrast, the government trimmed its amortization to foreign creditors to ₱3.2 billion from ₱3.6 billion. While principal payments posted an unprecedented spike, interest expenses grew by a more modest one percent to ₱48.9 billion.

The breakdown of interest payments revealed a divergence between local and foreign obligations. Domestic lenders were paid ₱37.1 billion in interest, a nearly 12 percent decline from ₱42.1 billion a year ago. Within this segment, interest on fixed-rate Treasury bonds fell to ₱19.8 billion, while payments for retail Treasury bonds dropped 29.2 percent to ₱12 billion.

However, interest on short-dated Treasury bills rose nearly five percent to ₱4.6 billion, and other domestic obligations saw interest costs balloon to ₱711 million from ₱32 million.

Meanwhile, foreign interest payments spiked 85.8 percent to ₱11.9 billion, reflecting the higher cost of servicing external debt.

For the first two months of 2026, the Marcos administration has paid ₱568.3 billion in total debt service, nearly four times the ₱158.7 billion recorded during the same period last year.

Year-to-date amortization has reached ₱391.6 billion, while total interest payments for the two-month period rose 15.6 percent to ₱176.7 billion.

The acceleration in repayments comes as the government manages a debt mountain that reached a record ₱17.71 trillion last year.

The national debt has been pushed higher by persistent borrowing to fund infrastructure projects and a weaker peso, which increases the local currency value of foreign-denominated obligations.

Total debt service for the full year in 2025 hit a record ₱2.1 trillion, and the early figures for 2026 suggest the fiscal burden remains a significant pressure point for the administration’s budget.