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Philippines: Debt payments breach P1 trillion
MANILA, Philippines — The government’s debt payments in the first nine months exceeded P1 trillion following the repayment of the P300 billion short-term loan from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), according to the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr).
Based on BTr data, debt service from January to September amounted to P1.13 trillion, a dramatic 103 percent increase from the P558.22 billion recorded in the same period last year.
This occured as debt payments surged by 665 percent to P374.06 billion in September from P48.92 billion in the same month last year due mainly to the repayment of the matured borrowings from the central bank, which was provided through a repurchase agreement in March.
Broken down, P821.74 billion of the total debt service in the first nine months was used for the amortization of the government’s loans. This was 211 percent higher than the P264.48 billion posted in the same period in 2019.
About P698.56 billion of the amount went to domestic lenders, while the remaining P123.19 billion was paid to external creditors.
Interest payments during the nine-month period similarly rose by 6.55 percent to P312.97 billion from P293.74 billion last year.
Of the amount, P224.28 billion was used to settle the interest of domestic borrowings, while P88.69 billion was used for external loans.
In an earlier statement, the BTr said the year-to-date interest payments were 13.56 percent lower than the P362.1 billion program, generating savings of P49.1 billion.
The BTr said interest payments as a percentage of expenditures stood at 10.35 percent, lower compared to last year’s 11.18 percent. But as a percentage of revenues, interest payments accounted for 14.6 percent, up from 12.62 percent last year due to lower collections.
For September alone , the national government paid P330.7 billion in debt amortization, plus another P43.37 billion in interests.
The government allocates a portion of its budget for the settlement of obligations on a monthly basis, depending on their maturity.
Earlier, the BTr said the repayment of its loan from the BSP pushed down the country’s outstanding debt to P9.37 trillion as of end-September, coming from a record-high of P9.62 trillion in August.
From January to September, the national government’s gross borrowings jumped by 179 percent to P2.56 trillion as compared to the P917.28 billion recorded in the same period last year.
Source: https://www.philstar.com/business/2020/11/09/2055491/debt-payments-breach-p1-trillion