THE national government spent 20 percent more for its debt service from January to April this year compared to a year ago.
The Bureau of the Treasury reported that the government’s debt service bill reached P585.79 billion as of end-April, higher than last year’s P488.32 billion.
Amortization also outpaced interest payments during the period.
Broken down, amortization in the first four months of this year jumped by 25.84 percent to P436.12 billion from P346.56 billion in 2020.
Meanwhile, interest payments from January to April this year rose by 5.58 percent to P149.68 billion from P141.76 billion a year ago.
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 April alone, total debt payments plunged by 56.66 percent to P64.29 billion from P148.34 billion in the same month last year.
This was mainly because of the 68-percent drop in amortization to P40.47 billion from P126.46 billion in April 2020.
On the other hand, interest payments in April this year went up by 8.86 percent to P23.82 billion from last year’s P21.88 billion.
This year, the government sees its debt service expenditures reaching P1.79 trillion.
Last year, the government’s debt payments reached a new record high of P962.47 billion as it needed to keep up with more financial obligations to fund its war chest against the Covid-19 pandemic.
The national government’s total outstanding debt continued to swell to a fresh record high of P10.991 trillion in April this year as the country resorts to more borrowings, again, for its pandemic response.
This was up by 2 percent from P10.77 trillion reported at the end of the year’s first quarter, and it was also a 27.8-percent jump from P8.6 trillion of end-April last year.
The national government has set a P3.03-trillion gross borrowing program this year, roughly the same amount it borrowed in 2020.