The national government’s debt-servicing costs surged past the ₱1-trillion threshold in the first four months of the year, driven by the dramatic increase in domestic principal repayments that outweighed the sharp reduction in external obligations.

Data from the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) showed that the total debt payments surged by more than two-thirds to ₱1.05 trillion from ₱622.9 billion recorded in the same four-month period a year earlier.

Amortization accounted for the largest portion of total debt service as of end-April, representing 68 percent of the total. These payments reached ₱715.6 billion, more than doubling the ₱335.5 billion paid in the first four months of 2025.

This surge was largely due to domestic amortization, which shot up to ₱630.4 billion from ₱170.4 billion a year ago, mainly driven by significant repayments made in February and April.

Meanwhile, the government nearly halved amortization to external lenders, falling from ₱165.1 billion to ₱85.3 billion.

Interest payments, which made up the remaining 32 percent of the debt obligations through April, climbed by 17.1 percent to ₱336.7 billion from ₱287.4 billion in 2025.

Domestic lenders received the bulk of these interest payments, totaling ₱254.3 billion for the period, increasing by more than a fifth from ₱209 billion in the previous year.

Broken down, interest on fixed-rate Treasury bonds (T-bonds) rose to ₱185.3 billion from ₱145.8 billion. Payments for retail Treasury bonds (RTBs) increased to ₱47.3 billion from ₱43.2 billion. Interest on short-dated Treasury bills (T-bills) also grew to ₱17.1 billion from ₱16.1 billion.

Further, interest payments on the government’s other domestic obligations climbed to ₱4.6 billion from ₱3.6 billion.

Interest payments on the government’s external debt inched up by five percent, rising to ₱82.4 billion from ₱78.4 billion.

For April alone, the government’s debt payments rose 12.1 percent to ₱314.9 billion from ₱280.9 billion recorded in the same month last year. This growth was driven by increases in both amortization and interest costs.

Amortization accounted for 80 percent of the total debt service during the month, rising to ₱251.4 billion from ₱234.5 billion a year earlier. Interest payments, which made up the remaining 20 percent of the month’s total obligations, climbed to ₱63.5 billion from ₱46.4 billion.

Recall that the NG’s debt service burden surged to a record ₱2.1 trillion in 2025, as the administration of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. grappled with ballooning interest costs that now consume an increasing share of the budget. Total debt payments last year rose 4.1 percent from ₱2.02 trillion in the previous year.

As of end-April, the NG debt stock eased to ₱18.47 trillion from the record level of ₱18.49 trillion in the previous month. This was because higher debt repayments outweighed fresh borrowings during the period, despite the swelling value of foreign obligations caused by the stumbling peso.