THE national government’s debt service from January to November of last year declined by 12.61 percent to P991.052 billion from P1.134 trillion recorded payments in the same period of 2021, latest Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) data showed.
Latest Treasury data showed that the national government paid less during the 11-month period due to lower amortization payments, which fell by 27.34 percent year-on-year.
Treasury data showed that bulk of the national government’s debt service payments were accounted for by amortizations which reached P531.799 billion during the 11-month period.
The amount was P200.176 billion lower than the P731.975 billion recorded amortization payments during the January-to-November period of 2021.
Treasury data showed that domestic amortization payments reached P409.041 billion while external amortization payments were estimated at P122.758 billion.
In terms of interest payments, the national government paid P459.253 billion during the 11-month period, 14.21 percent lower than the P402.105 billion recorded in 2021.
Treasury data showed that the national government’s domestic and foreign interest payments both posted double-digit growth rates during the reference period.
The national government paid P347.201 billion in domestic interest payments, 12.31 percent higher than it did in 2021 at P309.152 billion. Meanwhile, foreign interest payments rose by a fifth on an annual basis to P112.052 billion from P92.953 billion.
Domestic interest payments were composed mainly of interest payments for Fixed Rate Treasury Bonds amounting to P224.525 billion, followed by Retail Treasury Bonds at P107.734 billion.
In November alone, the national government’s debt service declined by almost 25 percent to P61.389 billion from P81.239 billion.
The amortizations for the month of November 2022 fell by 29.431 percent to P35.297 billion, from P50.018 billion a year ago. In the same month, interest payments also declined by 16.43 percent to P26.092 billion from P31.221 billion.
For November, domestic interest payments reached P18.584 billion while foreign interest payments amounted to P7.508 billion during the period.