Govt debt payments up in April
GOVERNMENT debt payments rose in April due to higher interest costs, data from the Bureau of the Treasury showed.
A total of P27.846 billion was paid to creditors during the month, up 5.9 percent from the P26.289 billion recorded a year earlier.
Interest payments, which accounted for the bulk or 83.2 percent, rose by 71.8 percent to P23.172 billion. Domestic interest payments, at P16.108 billion, were 97.3 percent higher while foreign debt interest payments totaling P7.064 billion rose by 32.7 percent.
Amortization expenses, meanwhile, dropped 63.5 percent to P4.674 billion. Domestic amortization fell to P116 million from P8.984 billion but foreign debt amortization increased to P4.558 billion, 19.2 percent higher.
Year to date, government debt payments shrank 17.7 percent from a year earlier to P226.046 billion.
The Treasury earlier reported that the government’s outstanding debt stood at P6.874 trillion in April, declining by over P4 billion from a month ago due to foreign exchange movements.
Economic managers recently approved an increase in foreign debt, revising this year’s financing program to a 65:35 mix — still in favor of domestic borrowings — from the previous 74:26.
The inter-agency Development Budget Coordination Committee explained that the need for local financing had lessened following a pre-funding exercise last year.
The borrowing mix for next year up to 2022 was set at 75:25 with the government looking to diversify its investor base and tap new markets.
The country’s debt-to-gross domestic product ratio is expected to continue declining, hitting 38.9 percent in 2022 from the 42.1 percent recorded at the end of 2017.
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