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Philippines: Debt payments surge to P73.17 B
MANILA, Philippines — The government settled in August P73.17 billion in debt, comprising of interest payments and amortization, the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) reported yesterday.
According to data from the Treasury, the government’s debt payments in August jumped 162.41 percent to P73.17 billion from P27.88 billion in the same month last year.
This brought the total debt payments to P551.2 billion in the first eight months, 4.6 percent lower than the P577.76 billion in the same period last year.
The government allots a portion of its budget for debt payments to settle obligations on a monthly basis, depending on their maturity.
For August alone, P46.80 billion of the amount used to settle debt went to principal payments, while the remaining P26.37 billion was used to pay interests.
Principal payments alone rose significantly as compared to the P4.44 billion paid in the same month last year.
The bulk of principal payments or about P42 billion went to domestic lenders, while the remaining P4.76 billion was paid to foreign creditors.
Meanwhile, interest payments during the month of August rose 12.5 percent to P26.37 billion from P23.44 billion a year ago.
In an earlier statement, the Treasury said this growth was driven by payment of P2.4 billion in interests for Samurai bonds last month. The interest was paid in advance as the original payment schedule fell on Sept. 1, a holiday.
Of the amount used to pay interests in July, P16.27 billion went to domestic lenders, while the rest was paid to foreign partners.
On a year-to-date basis, amortization amounted to P328.62 billion, while interest payments reached P222.57 billion.
Debt payments form part of the government’s expenditures.
Based on the latest Budget of Expenditures and Sources of Financing document of the Department of Budget and Management, the government has programmed a total of P647.27 billion for debt payments this year.
Source: http://www.philstar.com/business/2017/10/26/1752408/debt-payments-surge-p73.17-b