THE country’s debt service burden surged by 81.1 percent to $1.51 billion in January from $831 million a year earlier, preliminary Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) data showed.
Principal payments climbed to $760 million from $88 million, while interest payments also rose to $745 million from $743 million.
The debt service burden covers principal and interest payments on medium- to long-term credits such as those from the International Monetary Fund, loans under Paris Club agreements and debt restructuring by commercial banks, along with new money facilities.
It also includes interest payments on banks’ and nonbanks’ fixed and revolving short-term liabilities but excludes prepayments for future foreign loan maturities and principal payments on short-term obligations.
External debt fell to $147.65 billion at the end of last year from $149.09 billion three months earlier.
The decrease was mainly driven by non-residents selling a net $2.28 billion worth of Philippine debt securities. Lower US dollar valuations of foreign-currency-denominated borrowings also reduced the debt stock by $659.38 million.
As a share of gross domestic product, external debt slightly improved to 30.3 percent from 30.9 percent in the previous quarter, indicating a marginal improvement in debt manageability.