THE national government’s (NG) debt service bill jumped nearly 60 percent in the first half, Treasury data showed, reaching almost P1.23 trillion as principal repayments more than doubled from a year earlier.
The government paid a total of P1.227 trillion, up 59.7 percent from the P768.11 billion recorded in January-June 25, as amortization more than doubled to P743.00 billion from P353.29 billion a year earlier.
The largest amortization payments were recorded in February and April when principal repayments reached P381.71 billion and P251.36 billion, respectively.
Interest payments also increased, although at a slower pace, rising 16.6 percent to P483.69 billion from P414.82 billion. Of this, P360.72 billion went to domestic debt while P122.97 billion was for external obligations.
Fixed-rate Treasury bonds made up the largest share at P242.16 billion, followed by retail Treasury bonds at P87.50 billion and Treasury bills at P25.15 billion.
Debt servicing, however, fell 20.5 percent to P77.22 billion in June alone from P97.18 billion in May but was up 18.5 percent from the year-earlier P65.14 billion.
Interest payments dropped 26.2 percent to P62.43 billion from P84.60 billion but were 8.7 percent higher than the P57.42 billion recorded in June 2025.
Amortization rose 17.6 percent to P14.79 billion from P12.58 billion. It was 91.5 percent higher than the P7.72 billion recorded a year earlier.
The national government’s outstanding debt climbed to a new record high of P19.07 trillion in June, the Treasury reported last month, surpassing the P19.06-trillion projection for 2026.
The government’s debt stock rose by P518.98 billion, or 2.8 percent, from P18.55 trillion at the end of May. It was also higher than the P17.71 trillion seen at the end of 2025 while year-on-year it increased from P17.27 trillion.
Domestic obligations comprised 67.33 percent of the total while external debt accounted for the remainder.
Domestic debt rose to P12.84 trillion, up 2.74 percent from the month-earlier P12.5 trillion. It was 7.43 percent higher than the yearago P11.95 trillion.
External debt, meanwhile, rose by 2.92 percent to P6.23 trillion from May’s P6.05 trillion and was 17.13 percent higher than June 2025’s P5.32 trillion.
