HIGHER interest payments and amortization caused debt servicing in January to rise to P137.67 billion, 29.3 percent higher than the P106.51 billion in the same month last year and the P78.64 billion in December 2025, according to data from the Bureau of the Treasury.
Interest payments alone totaled P127.82 billion compared to P104.44 billion and P63.63 billion a year and one month earlier, respectively.
Local creditors accounted for almost all interest payments at P94.6 billion, also higher than the P72.29 billion a year earlier and the P41.78 billion in December 2025.
Fixed-rate Treasury bond payments amounted to P85.4 billion, followed by T-bills, P3.68 billion; and retail T-bonds, P3.56 billion.
Amortization hit P9.85 billion — with local amortization comprising the bulk at P8.09 billion — way higher than the P2.08 billion in January last year, but lower than December 2025‘s P15.01 billion.
Meanwhile, the national government’s outstanding debt hit a new record high at the start of the year, as it sought more favorable financing terms amid global uncertainties, the Treasury said.
At P18.13 trillion, outstanding debt grew by P1.82 trillion in January, or 11.16 percent higher than P16.31 trillion a year earlier, and 2.41 percent more than December 2025’s P17.71 trillion.
Yet the government’s debt portfolio remained “sustainable amid pressing challenges in the domestic and global landscape,” the Treasury noted, explaining that “with domestic debt comprising 68.0 percent of the total debt stock, exposure to foreign exchange risks is effectively limited.”
Likewise, domestic debt climbed to P12.32 trillion, up by P1.24 trillion or 11.19 percent, a year earlier.
External debt, meanwhile, spiked by P580.51 billion to P5.81 trillion, due to the issuance of new global bonds and net availing of official development assistance from international development partners.
