Domestic principal payments continued to dominate national government debt settlements in the first half of the year, driving total debt servicing up by three-fifths to ₱1.23 trillion.

According to the latest Bureau of the Treasury data, total debt payments from January to June surged 59.7 percent from ₱768.1 billion in the same period last year.

Amortization, or principal repayment, made up six out of every ₱10 spent on debt service through end-June. These payments reached ₱743 billion, more than doubling the ₱353.3 billion settled in the first half of 2025.

This surge was driven primarily by domestic amortization, which shot up to ₱630.9 billion from ₱170.5 billion a year ago. The increase was largely fueled by massive domestic repayments in February (₱378.5 billion) and April (₱243.6 billion).

In contrast, principal repayments to external lenders fell 38.7 percent to ₱112.1 billion from ₱182.8 billion in 2025.

Interest payments, which made up the remaining 39.4 percent of obligations through June, climbed 16.6 percent to ₱483.7 billion from ₱414.8 billion a year earlier.

Domestic lenders received the bulk of these interest settlements at ₱360.7 billion, up 20.3 percent from ₱299.8 billion in 2025.

By instrument, interest paid on fixed-rate treasury bonds rose to ₱242.2 billion from ₱193.7 billion, while retail treasury bond interest grew to ₱87.5 billion from ₱79.3 billion.

Interest on short-dated treasury bills reached ₱25.2 billion compared to ₱21.9 billion previously, and other domestic obligations rose to ₱5.9 billion from ₱5 billion.

Interest payments on foreign debt inched up 6.9 percent to ₱123.0 billion from ₱115.0 billion in 2025.

For June alone, overall debt settlements rose 18.5 percent to ₱77.2 billion from ₱65.1 billion a year prior.

Unlike the six-month trend led by principal repayments, interest costs made up four-fifths of June's total outlay, rising to ₱62.4 billion from ₱57.4 billion a year ago. Amortization for the month rose to ₱14.8 billion from ₱7.7 billion in 2025.

The national government's total debt service burden surged to a record ₱2.1 trillion in 2025—up 4.1 percent from ₱2.02 trillion in 2024—as the Marcos administration grappled with ballooning interest costs that consume an increasing share of the national budget.

National debt breached the ₱19-trillion mark for the first time in June, hitting another record high and surpassing the government’s full-year target six months ahead of schedule.