THE COUNTRY’S external debt service burden jumped by almost 20% as of end-October, preliminary data from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) showed.

Debt servicing on external borrowings climbed by 19.8% to $14.475 billion in the January-October period from $12.078 billion in the same period in 2023. BSP data showed principal payments surged by 23.6% to $7.846 billion from $6.349 billion in the same period in 2023.

Amortization accounted for over half (54.2%) of debt servicing during the period.

Meanwhile, interest payments rose by 15.7% to $6.629 billion in the first 10 months from $5.73 billion in the previous year.

At end-September, the external debt service burden as a share of gross domestic product (GDP) stood at 3.9%, up from 3.5% in the previous year.

Separate data from the BSP showed the Philippines’ outstanding external debt hit a record $139.64 billion as of end-September, higher by 17.5% year on year.

Broken down, this was composed of $86.88 billion in public sector debt and $52.76 billion from private sector obligations.

This brought the external debt-to-GDP ratio to 30.6% at the end of the third quarter.

The BSP’s external debt data cover borrowings of Philippine residents from nonresident creditors, regardless of sector, maturity, creditor type, debt instruments or currency denomination. — L.M.J.C. Jocson