Gov’t debt payments rise by 7.06% so far this year

MANILA, Philippines – The government’s debt payments in the first 3 quarters of this year rose by 7.06% from 2014 levels as of end-September.

The government spent a total of P459.55 billion ($9.781 billion) to pay for its domestic and international debts as of end-September 2015, based on data from the Bureau of the Treasury.

This is higher than the P429.26 billion ($9.349 billion) paid out in the same period in 2014.

Principal payments was behind increase, rising by 18.58% to P203.79 billion ($4.337 billion) from the P171.86 billion ($3.657 billion) in January to September 2014.

Of the total amortization made during the period, P149.05 billion ($3.172 billion) was used to pay local lenders while P54.75 billion ($1.165 billion) was paid to foreign creditors.

Meanwhile, interest payments as of end-September totaled P255.75 billion ($5.443 billion), lower than the P257.39 billion ($5.478 billion) paid out in the first nine months of 2014.

Of the said amount, P174.44 billion ($3.712 billion) was paid to domestic creditors while P81.32 billion ($1.730 billion) was for international debt.

September debt payments

Total debt payments for the month of September amounted to P41.41 billion ($881.4 million), 15.06% lower than the P48.76 billion ($1.037 billion) recorded in the same month in 2014.

Principal payments totaled to P11.32 billion ($240.9 million) while interest payments amounted to P30.09 billion ($640.4 million).

September borrowings

Meanwhile, the national government’s gross borrowings in September jumped by 23% after the issuance of a local bond swap in order to promote liquidity and allowed the government to generate interest savings.

The Bureau of the Treasury data showed that the amount borrowed by the government in September stood at P27.68 billion ($589.1 million), higher than the P22.5 billion ($478.9 million) recorded in the same period in 2014.

For the first three quarters, government borrowings totaled to P279.94 billion ($5.958 billion), nearly the same as the previous year’s level of P280.1 billion ($5.961 billion).

The majority of the amount, P174.9 billion ($3.722 billion), was borrowed locally with the remaining P105.04 billion ($2.235 billion) borrowed from international creditors. – Rappler.com

$1 = P 46.98