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Philippines: Govt debt payments soar in November
Due to increasing interest payments and amortization costs, the national government’s debt servicing jumped in November 2021 compared to a year earlier, according to data released by the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr).
Debt payments totaled P81.23 billion during the month, up 203.27 percent from P26.78 billion in November 2020.
The amount of interest paid expanded by 55.83 percent from P20.03 billion to P31.22 billion, accounting for 38.43 percent of the total amount paid.
Domestic interest payments surged by 72.76 percent to P27.54 billion in November 2021 from P15.944 billion a year earlier, while external interest payments fell by 10.17 percent to P3.675 billion from P4.091 billion a year ago.
Amortization costs saw an uptick of 640.78 percent from P6.752 billion a year earlier to P50.018 billion, accounting for 61.57 percent of total debt servicing costs.
Domestic amortization picked up by 2.93 percent to P6.950 billion from P6.752 billion a year ago, while external amortization rose by 2.93 percent to P6.950 billion from P6.752 billion a year ago.
Debt servicing was P1.13 trillion in the first 11 months of 2021, with interest payments of P402.10 billion and amortization of P732.06 billion.
According to the Department of Budget and Management‘s Budget of Expenditures and Sources of Financing, the national government has a debt service spending program of P1.28 trillion for 2021. The entire cost of amortization is P758.32 billion, with interest payments of P531.55 billion.
In 2020, the government paid P962.46 billion in loans to creditors accelerating 14.2 percent from P842.44 billion a year earlier.
Source: https://www.manilatimes.net/2022/01/24/business/top-business/govt-debt-payments-soar-in-november/1830345