THE national government’s debt payments as of end-July reached P834.33 billion, rising by over a third compared to the same period in 2020.
As amortization payments continued to outpace interest payments, the government’s debt service bill during the seven-month period ended up 37.2 percent higher than last year’s P608.26 billion.
Cumulative amortization payments from January to July this year ballooned to P566.77 billion, surging by 56.9 percent from P361.2 billion last year.
Likewise, interest payments rose by 8.3 percent year-on-year to P267.56 billion from P247.06 billion.
Amortization refers to the repayment of loan principal over time, while interest payment refers to a payment determined by the interest rate of an account.
For July alone, state debt payments slightly fell to P60.54 billion this year from P60.91 in the same month in 2020.
Amortization payments in July slid by 1.05 percent to 1.51 billion from P1.53 billion last year.
On the other hand, interest payments went down to P59.03 billion from P59.38 billion.
This year, the government has programmed P1.29 trillion for its debt service, with P758.32 billion allotted for principal amortization and P531.55 billion in interest payments.
In 2020, the government spent P962.47 billion to service its debts as it needed to keep up with more financial obligations to fund its war chest against the Covid-19 pandemic.
As of end-July this year, the national government’s outstanding debt has already piled up to a new record high of P11.61 trillion, swelling by 26.7 percent from P9.16 trillion a year ago.