Debt payments ease as principal costs dive

The Philippine external debt service burden (DSB) declined by more than a fifth to $11.02 billion as of end-October 2025, from $14.3 billion in the same period in 2024, due to declines in both principal and interest payments.

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The latest data from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) showed that the 22.9-percent drop in the country’s servicing of its foreign debt was driven by a massive decline in principal payments and a single-digit decrease in interest payments (IPs).

Amortization plunged by 41.1 percent to $4.51 billion as of end-October, from $7.65 billion in the same period in 2024. IPs also eased by 2.1 percent to $6.51 billion during the period, from $6.65 billion a year earlier.