THE national government trimmed its debt payments in February compared to a year earlier as amortizations fell, latest Treasury data showed.
At P293.6 billion, debt servicing in February was 21.9 percent lower than the P375.7 billion recorded a year earlier. It was, however, substantially higher than January's P158.9 billion.
Amortizations accounted for the bulk at P245.8 billion, lower than the year-earlier P341.6 billion but more than double the P84.7 billion in January.
The remaining P47.8 billion involved interest payments, higher than the P34.1 billion posted in February last year but down from January's P74.2 billion.
Domestic amortization accounted for almost all amortization expenses at P243.6 billion. This was lower than the P303.5 billion a year ago but higher than the month-earlier P138 million.
Foreign amortization, meanwhile, plunged to P2.2 billion in February from P38.1 billion last year. It was also markedly lower than January's P84.5 billion.
As for interest payments, P34.4 billion — up from P21.9 billion a year earlier — went to local creditors. In the previous month, these were higher at P48.8 billion.
Foreign interest payments, meanwhile, climbed to P13.5 billion in February from P12.2 billion 12 months earlier. It was lower than the P25.4 billion recorded in January of this year.
Year-to-date, government debt payments were 6.8 percent higher at P452.5 billion from January-February 2023's P423.5 billion.
The bulk was again used for amortization, amounting to P330.5 billion, while the remaining P122 billion went to interest payments.
The national government's outstanding debt hit a new high of P15.18 trillion in February.
A total of P388.51 billion was added from January due to domestic debt issuances that were partially tempered by the effect of the stronger peso on the valuation of foreign debt.
For the first two months of 2024, the government's outstanding debt was P562.43 billion higher from end of last year.
In percentage terms, debt rose by 2.63 percent from January, 3.85 percent from end-December 2023, and 10.37 percent from a year earlier.
Domestic borrowings comprised the bulk or 69.68 percent of outstanding debt at P10.58 trillion, while external debt was 30.32 percent of the total at P4.6 trillion.
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