MANILA – The national government experienced a substantial increase in its debt service last year, with payments for interest and amortization rising sharply.
According to data from the Bureau of the Treasury, debt payments during the Marcos administration reached P1.6 trillion from January to December 2023, marking a notable 24 percent increase from the P1.29 trillion paid out in the previous year.
The majority of these payments went towards amortization, totaling P975 billion, representing a 19 percent rise from the P790 billion recorded in 2022. Domestic principal payments made up a significant portion, amounting to P854.165 billion, marking a 29 percent increase from the previous year’s P659.834 billion. However, foreign amortization decreased by seven percent from P130.489 billion in 2022 to P121.113 billion last year.
In contrast, interest payments saw a significant decline of 25 percent to P628 billion from P502 billion. The bulk of these interest payments, approximately 70 percent or P435.74 billion, was directed to domestic creditors. These payments included P263 billion in fixed-rate Treasury bonds, P17.166 million in Treasury bills, and P149 billion in retail Treasury bonds. Additionally, the government settled P192.591 billion in interest owed to foreign financiers last year.
In December alone, debt payments amounted to P68.866 billion, showing a considerable decrease of 77 percent compared to P302.125 billion in the previous year. Of this total, interest and principal payments reached P60.678 billion and P8.188 million, respectively.
The country’s outstanding debt reached a record-high of P14.62 trillion as of the end of 2023, marking an increase of around 9 percent or P1.20 trillion from the end of December 2022 level of P13.18 trillion. Consequently, for 2023, the government’s debt-to-gross domestic product (GDP) ratio rose to 60.2 percent, which was still below the 61.2 percent target set by the Marcos administration.
