DEBT servicing by the national government ballooned in the first three months of 2026 due to higher amortization, Bureau of the Treasury data showed.
At P737.41 billion, debt payments made during the period were 115.6-percent higher compared to the P342.02 billion recorded a year earlier.
In March alone, debt payments were also higher at P169.09 billion compared to P52.15 billion in the same month last year. It was, however, markedly lower than the month-earlier P430.64 billion.
Amortization drove the first-quarter increase, surging to P463.27 billion from P101.02 billion a year earlier with domestic amortization accounting for the bulk at P386.74 billion.
Interest payments, meanwhile, rose to P273.13 billion from P241.0 billion in January to March 2025.
Local creditors accounted for almost all interest payments at P211.39 billion, higher than the year ago P178.56 billion.
Fixed-rate Treasury bond payments comprised P152.22 billion, followed by retail T-bonds (P43.76 billion) and T-bills (P12.73 billion).
Outstanding public debt rose to a new record high of P18.49 trillion in March, mainly due to the peso slump and the net issuance of domestic securities.
The amount comprised 97 percent of the Marcos administration’s P19.06-trillion debt assumption for the year.
Domestic debt also climbed to P12.53 trillion from P12.48 trillion in February, and is 10.15 percent higher than the P11.38 trillion in March 2025.
External debt rose to P5.95 trillion from February’s P5.68 trillion, “partially offset by net repayments of P2.55 billion and downward revaluation of third currencies debt by P23.92 billion,” the Treasury said.
External debt accounts for 32 percent of the national government’s outstanding obligations, making movements in the peso-dollar exchange rate an important factor in debt management.
NIÑA MYKA PAULINE ARCEO
