PH debt service bill dipped in Nov ’25–BTr
The Marcos administration’s debt service burden eased slightly in November after a steep drop in domestic principal payments was tempered by higher external obligations.
Latest data from the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) reported that the state paid P89.9 billion to creditors in November, 4 percent lower than the amount it settled compared to the same period last year.
In total, the debt payments from January to November stood at P2.02 trillion, down 3.4 percent year-on-year. This already accounted for 96 percent of the government’s P2.1 trillion planned debt payments for 2025.
The modest November decline was due to domestic amortization collapsing to P177 million from P18.3 billion a year ago. At the same time, amortization to foreign creditors climbed 42 percent to P12.5 billion from P8.75 billion, limiting the month’s overall drop.
This brought total principal payments for November to P12.68 billion, a 53-percent drop from the previous year’s P27.05 billion.
Year-to-date, total amortization reached P1.22 trillion, slightly below the previous year’s P1.25 trillion.
Interest
Accounting for the largest share of November’s debt service pile was interest payments totaling P77.3 billion, up nearly 16 percent from 2024’s P66.65 billion.
In part, the higher interest payments also tempered the overall decline in debt service.
Broken down, the government settled P56.87 billion in interest to local creditors and P20.41 billion to foreign creditors.
The 11-month tally of interest payments now stands at P800.5 billion, a 13-percent increase from the P705.3 billion recorded in the same period the previous year.
This year, the government plans to borrow P2.6 trillion from lenders to plug a projected budget deficit of P1.6 trillion, equivalent to 5.5 percent of gross domestic product.
The drive is expected to push the debt stock to P17.36 trillion by year’s end. As of October, the national government’s debt load had already climbed to P17.56 trillion.
