Gov’t debt payments up 16% in May
The debt service burden of the Marcos administration grew in May after both amortizations and interest expenses went up.
The government paid a total of P80 billion to its creditors, representing a 16-percent increase year-on-year, according to the latest cash operations report of the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr).
But in the first five months, total debt payments plummeted by 42 percent to P703 billion.
This accounted for 34 percent of the Marcos administration’s plan to spend P2.1 trillion paying back what the government owed its lenders.
Broken down, amortizations grew by 28 percent to P10 billion in May. This brought the five-month principal payments to P346 billion, albeit 61 percent lower compared with a year ago.
The BTr said the state paid zero amortizations to local creditors during the month. Since the beginning of the year, local creditors have received P170 billion in principal payments from the government, declining by 77 percent.
Amortizations for foreign obligations jumped by 29 percent to P10 billion. This sent the actual principal repayments to offshore creditors to P175 billion in the January to May period, marking a 25 percent increase.
Interest payments up
Meanwhile, the government spent P70 billion settling interest costs in May, a 14 percent increase compared with a year ago. That brought the five-month interest expense to P357 billion, up by 11 percent.
The BTr said domestic interest burden got heavier by 14 percent during the month to P52 billion. As it is, P261.3 billion of total government expenditures in the January to May period went to settling interest on local debts, up by 13 percent.
Foreign creditors received P18 billion in interest payments, a 17-percent increment. This put the five-month tally to P96 billion, increasing by 6 percent.
