Debt payments jump in January

Government debt service jumped by almost a fifth in January owing to higher principal payments due to the depreciation of the peso relative to the US dollar, data from the Bureau of the Treasury showed over the weekend.

In January this year, the national government settled R83.8 billion worth of debt obligations, an increase of 19 percent compared with R70 billion in the same month last year, the Treasury data revealed.

Amortization during the month increased by 46 percent to R40.29 billion from R27.65 billion a year ago. Of that amount, payments to local lenders amounted to R38.99 billion, while foreign cornered R1.3 billion.

Interest payment, on the other hand, was almost unchanged at R43.51 billion from R43.35 billion in the previous year. Of that amount, R24.47 billion was to domestic creditors and the remaining R19.05 billion was to foreign banks.

For 2018, the national government earmarked R682.46 billion for debt service, slightly higher compared with the R680.46-billion actual payments registered last year.

Of the total program, R515.5 billion is set aside to domestic, while R166.96 is for the foreign creditors.

Earlier, the Treasury reported that the national government's outstanding debt stood at R6.821 trillion at the end of February, higher by R94.6 billion from the end of January.

Of this, R4.43 trillion was domestic debt, which was lower by R920 million from the end of January.

The country's external debt at the end of February, however, rose to R2.391 trillion or R95.5 billion higher than the previous month, as the Philippines sourced more funds abroad and the peso depreciated.

The peso fell to R52.07 to the dollar at end-February from R51.341 in January and R50.255 in February 2017, the Treasury noted.

For 2018, the Treasury bureau expects the national government’s outstanding debt to reach R6.994 trillion.