<\/p>\n
By Justine Irish D. Tabile, <\/b>Senior Reporter<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n THE NATIONAL GOVERNMENT\u2019S (NG) <\/span>debt service bill jumped by over 21% in May amid higher interest and amortization pay<\/span>ments, the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) <\/span>said. <\/span><\/p>\n The newest Treasury data showed payments made by the federal government for its obligations surged by 21.4% to P97.18 billion in May from P80.05 billion in the identical month a 12 months ago. <\/span><\/p>\n Month on month, nonetheless, debt service slumped by 69.1% from P314.89 billion in April. <\/span><\/p>\n Debt service refers to payments made by the NG for its domestic and foreign debt.<\/p>\n The majority or 87% of debt payments in May consisted of interest payments, while the remaining were amortization payments.<\/p>\n The federal government\u2019s interest payments rose by 20.9% to P84.6 billion in May from P69.95 billion in the identical month a 12 months earlier.<\/p>\n Interest payments for domestic debt stood at P66.51 billion in May, up by 27.1% from P52.31 billion in the identical month in 2025.<\/p>\n Of this total, P41.68 billion went to interest payments for fixed-rate Treasury bonds, P21.09 for retail Treasury bonds, and P3.74 billion for Treasury bills.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, interest payments for foreign borrowings inched up by 2.5% to P18.09 billion in May from P17.64 billion a 12 months prior. <\/span><\/p>\n Then again, NG\u2019s repayment of its loan principal increased by 24.6% to P12.58 billion in May from P10.09 billion a 12 months ago. <\/span><\/p>\n These only consisted of amortization on foreign obligations because it didn’t make principal payments on domestic debt in May this 12 months and last 12 months.<\/p>\n FIVE-MONTH BILL Amortization payments within the January-to-May period jumped by 110.7% to P728.21 billion from P345.57 billion a 12 months ago.<\/p>\n Broken down, principal payments for domestic debt soared by 269.9% to P630.37 billion, while payments for external borrowings declined by 44.1% to P97.85 billion.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, interest payments stood at P421.26 billion within the five months ending May, up 17.9% from P357.4 billion in the identical period a 12 months ago.<\/p>\n Interest payments on domestic debt jumped by 22.7% 12 months on 12 months to P320.8 billion within the first fi<\/span>ve months from P261.34 billion a 12 months ago.<\/p>\n This consisted of P227-billion fixed-rate Treasury bonds, P68.41 billion for retail Treasury bonds, P20.83 billion for Treasury bills, and P4.55 billion in interest payments for other domestic borrowings.<\/p>\n Interest payments on foreign obligations increased by 4.6% 12 months on 12 months to P100.46 billion within the January-to-May period from P96.06 billion a 12 months ago.<\/p>\n \u201cThe rise in debt service in May and through the first five months of the 12 months likely reflects a mix of upper principal repayments and bigger interest payments as the federal government continues to service a growing debt stock,\u201d Union Bank of the Philippines Chief Economist Ruben Carlo O. Asuncion told BusinessWorld<\/i> via Viber.<\/p>\n \u201cThe repayment schedule of maturing obligations also can create significant swings in monthly debt service figures, particularly when large domestic or external debt maturities fall inside a given period,\u201d he added. <\/span><\/p>\n In the approaching months, Mr. Asuncion said debt service could remain elevated because of the federal government\u2019s ongoing financing requirements and the rollover of maturing debt. <\/span><\/p>\n \u201cInterest payments may additionally stay relatively high as portions of the debt stock proceed to reflect the upper rate of interest environment seen lately,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n He added that foreign exchange rate movements could affect servicing costs for foreign currency-denominated obligations.<\/p>\n On Friday, the peso closed at P61.415 against the greenback, strengthening by 15 centavos from its P61.565 finish on Thursday. <\/span><\/p>\n University of Asia and the Pacific economist Marco Antonio C. Agonia attributed the rise in debt servicing to a bigger debt stock and elevated interest payments. <\/span><\/p>\n \u201cBorrowing for the federal government\u2019s normal operations and its response to higher oil prices mechanically increased principal repayment,\u201d <\/span>Mr. Agonia told BusinessWorld<\/i> via e-mail. <\/span><\/p>\n \u201cMeanwhile, elevated rates of interest from larger risk premia arising from the flood control scandal and the oil price crisis materially pushed up interest payments up to now,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n The NG\u2019s outstanding debt stood at P18.55 trillion as of end-May, inching up by 0.41% from the prior month\u2019s level of P18.47 trillion.<\/p>\n 12 months on 12 months, outstanding debt went up by 9.62% from P16.92 trillion at end-May 2025.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" A person holds peso bills on this file photo. \u2014 PHILIPPINE STAR\/WALTER BOLLOZOS By Justine Irish D. Tabile, Senior Reporter THE NATIONAL GOVERNMENT\u2019S (NG) debt service bill jumped by over 21% in May amid higher interest and amortization payments, the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) said. The newest Treasury data showed payments made by the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":361715,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[4444,5007,8042,1903,5125,4055],"class_list":["post-361714","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business","tag-bill","tag-debt","tag-governments","tag-national","tag-rises","tag-service"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t
<\/b>For the first five<\/span> months, the federal government\u2019s debt service bill surged by 63.5% to P1.15 trillion from P702.97 billion in the identical period last 12 months.<\/p>\n