THE GOVERNMENT debt service bill declined 14% year-on-year to P29.18 billion in October, the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) said.
The October total also fell 24.38% from September.
The bureau said the government’s principal payments fell in October, more than offset the increase in interest expenses.
Of the total debt service bill, 83% or P24.02 billion was for interest payments, which grew 17.55% year-on-year.
Principal payments meanwhile declined 61.81% to P13.52 billion that month.
Overall debt service in the 10 months to October was P649.72 billion, up 5.33% from a year earlier.
This is equivalent to 88.55% of the programmed P733.74 billion debt service budget for the year, based on the latest Budget of Expenditures and Sources of Financing (BESF) document.
Amortization payments accounted for 54.54% of the total, or P354.38 billion, which grew 2% year-on-year. Interest payments meanwhile amounted to P295.34 billion, up 9.63% from a year earlier. — Elijah Joseph C. Tubayan
