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DEBT payments by the national government declined
last year due to lower interest rates and the rapid appreciation of
the peso, Bureau of Treasury data showed.
The national government’s debt
servicing reached P613.1 billion, or P241.27 billion lower than the
P854.370 billion paid out the year before. In December alone, debt
servicing reached P22.466 billion, down from P28.466 billion the
month before.
Debt servicing refers to payments
of both interest and principal. The debt service burden excludes
rescheduling or refinancing of existing debt and conversion of debt
to equity.
Last year, total debt servicing
was projected to reach P613.152 billion.
Interest payments dropped by
P43.27 billion to P266.833 billion from P310.104 billion the
previous year. Interest payments during the period were expected to
reach P266.883.
Of the total, domestic and
foreign interest payments reached P157.22 billion and P109.613
billion, respectively.
Payment of principal, likewise,
declined by P198 billion to P346.269 billion in 2007 from P544.266
billion the previous year. In December alone, principal payments
reached P10.632 billion, consisting of full year domestic payments
of P284.017 billion and foreign payments of P62.252 billion.
Government’s total spending in
the 12-month period reached P1.144 trillion.
The peso averaged 40.65 against
the dollar in January year on year, and has been one of the
strongest Asian currencies since last year.
--Chino S. Leyco
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