PHL external debt service bill dips to $7.5 billion at end-July

THE PHILIPPINES’ external debt service burden declined by 5% at end-July as less foreign loans matured, preliminary data from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) showed.

- Katherine K. Chan

Debt servicing on external borrowings slipped to $7.53 billion in the first seven months from $7.935 billion in the same period last year.

Broken down, principal payments dropped by 12.2% to $2.894 billion from $3.296 billion a year earlier.

Interest payments inched down by 0.1% to $4,636 billion from $4.639 billion the previous year.

“The slight year-on-year decline in the external debt servicing bill could largely be attributed to lower share of foreign borrowings in the (National Government’s) total borrowing mix in recent years to better manage or minimize risk of forex (foreign exchange) losses entailed in foreign borrowings,” Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. Chief Economist Michael L. Ricafort said in a Viber message.