By Aubrey Rose A. Inosante, Reporter

THE NATIONAL Government’s (NG) debt service bill slipped in November amid a sharp drop in amortization payments, the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) said.

Latest data from the Treasury showed that the debt service bill fell by 4% to P89.97 billion in November from P93.7 billion in the same month in 2024.

However, month on month, the debt service bill rose by 36.8% from P65.78 billion in October.

Debt service refers to the payments made by the government on domestic and foreign borrowings.

The bulk, or 85.91%, of debt payments consisted of interest payments, while the rest were amortization payments.

In November, amortization payments declined by 53.13% to P12.68 billion from P27.05 billion in the same month in 2024.

Principal payments on domestic debt plunged by 99.03% to P177 million in November from P18.3 billion in the previous year.

Meanwhile, amortization paid on foreign debt jumped by 42.83% to P12.5 billion in November from P8.75 billion in 2024.

On the other hand, interest payments stood at P77.29 billion in November, up 15.96% from P66.65 billion in the same month in 2024.

Domestic interest payments increased by 16.24% to P56.88 billion in November from P48.93 billion a year ago.

This consisted of P32.22 billion for fixed-rate Treasury bonds (T-bonds), P21.09 billion for retail T-bonds, P3 billion for Treasury bills (T-bills), and P563 million for others.

Interest payments for foreign borrowings went up by 15.17% to P20.41 billion in November from P17.72 billion in the same month in 2024.

Jonathan L. Ravelas, a senior adviser at Reyes Tacandong & Co., said in a Viber message the year-on-year drop in the November debt service bill reflected “lower interest costs and a stronger peso, which eased foreign debt payments.”

“This could be largely due to relatively less maturities of National Government (NG) securities towards the end of the year,” Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. Chief Economist Michael L. Ricafort said in a Viber message over the weekend.

In the 11-month period, the NG debt service bill stood at P2.02 trillion, up by 3.59% from P1.95 trillion in the same period in 2024.

The 11-month tally was already 98.56% of the P2.05-trillion debt service program for 2025.

Amortization payments fell by 2% to P1.22 trillion in the January-to-November period from P1.25 trillion in 2024. This exceeded the P1.21-trillion full-year amortization program by 1.48%.

Principal payments on domestic debt slipped by 0.88% to P1.01 trillion, while external payments increased by 6.95% to P214.92 billion.

Meanwhile, interest payments rose 13.49% to P800.51 billion in the January-to-November period from P705.33 billion in 2024. This was 94.4% of the P848.03-billion programmed interest payments for 2025.

Interest payments on domestic debt stood at P593.07 billion, up by 18.05% from P502.39 billion in 2024.

This was composed of P399.3 billion in fixed-rate T-bonds, P143.56 billion in retail T-bonds, P41.21 billion in T-bills, and P9 million in others.

On the other hand, external debt inched up by 2.21% to P207.44 billion as of end-November from P202.95 billion in 2024.

SEASONAL BORROWINGSAnalysts expect the Philippines’ debt service bill to rise in early 2026, reflecting seasonal borrowing patterns and the maturity of government securities.

“This could increase in the coming months in view of large government securities/Treasury bonds maturing worth at least P200 billion each in February 2026 and April 2026,” Mr. Ricafort said.

In 2026, the government plans to spend P2.01 trillion on debt service, with P1.06 trillion for principal amortization and P950 billion for interest payments.

“But expect debt service to climb in December and early 2026 as seasonal spending boosts borrowing and global rates stay high,” Mr. Ravelas said.

“A stronger dollar will also make foreign obligations pricier, so fiscal discipline will be key,” he added.

The peso closed at P58.79 per dollar on Dec. 29, the last trading day for 2025. It weakened by 94.5 centavos from P57.845 at the end of 2024.