DEBT payments by the national government more than tripled at the start of the year, latest data from the Bureau of the Treasury showed.

At P158.9 billion, the amount was 233 percent higher than the P47.8 billion recorded a year earlier. Of the total, P84.68 billion was used for amortization, significantly higher than the year-earlier P861 million.

The remaining P74.2 billion was used for interest payments, also up from the P47 billion posted in January last year.

Foreign amortization, which accounted for almost all amortization expenses, totaled P84.5 billion, higher than the P858 million a year ago.

Domestic amortization, meanwhile, rose to P138 million in January from P3 million last year.

As for interest payments, P48.8 billion — up from P26.6 billion — went to local creditors.

This was mostly composed of Treasury bills (P2.6 billion), fixed-rate Treasury bonds (P40.9 billion) and retail Treasury bonds (P3.6 billion).

Foreign interest payments, meanwhile, climbed to P25.4 billion in January from 2023's P20.3 billion.

The national government's outstanding debt rose to a new record of P14.79 trillion in January, with P173.91 billion added from December's P14.62 trillion following the issuance of domestic securities and a weaker peso depreciation.

In percentage terms, the debt tally was 7.97 percent higher than a year earlier and up 1.19 percent from December 2023.

Domestic borrowings comprised the bulk, or 68.71 percent, of outstanding debt at P10.16 trillion, while external debt was 31.29 percent of the total at P4.63 trillion.