BOT: Govt debt payments decline in 1st trimester

Lower interest expenses and principal payments in April pulled down government debt payments in the first trimester compared to the same period in 2010, the latest data from the Bureau of the Treasury (BOT) showed. The BOT said the Philippines serviced P350.288 billion in debts from January to April, lower than the P365.107 billion it paid in the same period last year. The decrease in debt payments came after the government exerted efforts to lengthen the maturities of the debt papers it had issued, fiscal authorities said. Bulk of the January to April debt payments went to principal payments, which amounted to P248.136 billion – higher than the principal payments of P240.555 billion from over a year ago, according to the BOT. The government paid P174.855 billion of P248.136 billion to domestic creditors, while it owed P73.281 billion to foreign lenders. Interest payments, on the other hand, amounted to P102.152 billion during the period – lower than the P124.552 billion it spent in the same period last year. The BOT said that of this amount, P55.478 billion went to interest payments on domestic loans and P47.674 billion to foreign lenders. Government debt service amounted to P18.223 billion in April alone, significantly lower than the P89.753 billion debt payments in March. The government expects to shell out P823.3 billion for debt payments this year, higher than the P742.8 billion last year. — PE/KBK, GMA News