THE national government’s debt payments spiked by more than two and a half times in September, bringing the total debt service for the first nine months to P1.868 trillion.
Latest data from the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) showed the government’s debt payments rose by 250.27 percent to P327.892 billion in September 2025, from P93.610 billion during the same month last year.
About three-fourths of the debt service in September was used to pay amortization, while the remaining quarter of the amount went to interest payments.
Amortization, or principal payments, for September jumped more than twelvefold to P246.188 billion from P19.758 billion a year ago.
Payments to domestic creditors soared to P237.925 billion, skyrocketing by 273,377 percent year-on-year.
In contrast, amortization for foreign debt dropped by 57.99 percent to P8.263 billion from a year earlier.
Meanwhile, interest payments in September grew by 10.63 percent to P81.704 billion from P73.852 billion in the same month last year.
The government’s domestic interest payments went up by 17.80 percent to P65.271 billion, while interest on foreign debt declined by 10.91 percent to P16.433 billion.
Michael L. Ricafort, chief economist at Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation (RCBC), attributed the sharp rise in September’s debt servicing to the maturity of large Treasury bond issuances during the month.
Data from the Treasury showed there were some P237.786 billion worth of benchmark bonds and P141.3 billion worth of Treasury bills that matured in September this year.
From January to September, total debt servicing reached P1.868 trillion, up by 13.68 percent from P1.643 trillion in the same period last year.
The amount already represents 90.97 percent of the government’s P2.054-trillion full-year debt service program.
Broken down, amortization payments to both domestic and external sources climbed by 13.43 percent to P1.202 trillion from last year’s P1.060 trillion.
Of this amount, P1.006 trillion went to local lenders, while P196.482 billion was paid to foreign creditors.
On the other hand, interest payments for the nine-month period also increased by 14.15 percent to P665.849 billion, compared to the P583.293 billion a year earlier.
Most of these payments were made to domestic creditors, which grew by 14.40 percent to P1.006 trillion, while those to external lenders increased by 8.69 percent to P196.482 billion.
For the remaining months of the year, Ricafort said there are no more large Treasury bond maturities that could lead to lower debt servicing.
Ricafort added that the reduction in interest rates by the US Federal Reserve and the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) since the latter part of 2024 could help reduce the government’s debt servicing.
‘But offset by higher US dollar/peso exchange rate in recent months that could lead to higher debt servicing of foreign debts as they fall due,’ Ricafort noted.
The government’s financing program amounts to P2.6 trillion this year-a sum meant to plug its projected budget deficit of P1.561 trillion.
So far, P2.394 trillion has been borrowed as of the end of September, mostly sourced domestically.
As of end-September this year, the government’s outstanding debt reached P17.455 trillion, of which P11.972 trillion was owed to domestic sources while P5.482 trillion was borrowed from external lenders.