Domestic principal payments continued to dominate the national government’s (NG) debt settlements through the first five months of 2026, raising total debt servicing by more than three-fifths to ₱1.15 trillion.

The latest Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) data showed that the NG’s total debt payments from January to May surged 64 percent from the ₱703 billion recorded in the same five-month period in 2025.

Amortization, or principal repayment, accounted for the largest portion of total debt service as of end-May, representing 63.3 percent of total. These payments reached ₱728.2 billion, more than doubling the ₱345.6 billion paid during the same period in 2025.

This surge was primarily driven by domestic amortization, which shot up to ₱630.4 billion from ₱170.4 billion a year ago. The increase was largely fueled by significant domestic repayments made in February (₱378.5 billion) and April (₱243.6 billion).

In contrast, the government saw a significant reduction in amortization payments to external lenders, which fell to ₱97.8 billion from ₱175.2 billion in 2025.

Interest payments (IPs), making up the remaining 36.7 percent of debt obligations through May, climbed 17.9 percent to ₱421.3 billion from ₱357.4 billion in the previous year.

Domestic lenders received the bulk of these IPs, totaling ₱320.8 billion for the period, an increase of 23 percent from ₱261.3 billion in 2025.

Broken down, IPs on fixed-rate treasury bonds (T-bonds) rose to ₱227 billion from ₱178.9 billion. IPs for retail treasury bonds (RTBs) increased to ₱68.4 billion from ₱60.1 billion.

Additionally, IPs on short-dated treasury bills (T-bills) grew to ₱20.8 billion from ₱18.7 billion, while IPs on other domestic obligations climbed to ₱4.6 billion from ₱3.6 billion.

IPs on the government’s external debt inched up 4.6 percent to ₱100.5 billion from ₱96.1 billion in 2025.

For the month of May alone, the government’s debt payments rose 21.4 percent to ₱97.2 billion from ₱80 billion in May 2025.

Unlike the year-to-date trend, where amortization dominated, IP costs made up the bulk of May’s total obligations at 87.1 percent, climbing to ₱84.6 billion from ₱70 billion a year ago. Amortization for the month rose to ₱12.6 billion from ₱10.1 billion in 2025.

To recall, the NG’s debt service burden surged to a record ₱2.1 trillion in 2025, as the administration of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. grappled with ballooning IP 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.

Last week, the BTr reported that the NG’s outstanding debt climbed to a fresh record of ₱18.55 trillion at end-May, driven by an aggressive domestic borrowing campaign that outpaced repayments and tested the country’s fiscal limits amid global market volatility.