Gov’t mulls return to global debt mart

MANILA, Philippines - The Aquino administration is considering returning to the global debt market next year to maintain its presence overseas, according to one of the country’s top economic advisers.   

The country shied away from the global bond market this year in a bid to help the central bank deal with overflowing liquidity in the domestic market

Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima noted that while the country remains awash with cash, it is looking at meeting some of its funding needs overseas to take advantage of strong appetite for Philippine debt papers.

“The Philippine market is still awash with liquidity so no need for us to go to foreign markets but one of our goals is to maintain market access and supply investors with fresh Philippine papers. It’s important that we maintain market presence and investor interest because conditions change,” Purisima said.

“No decision yet on whether to go out and what amount to raise  but certainly we may consider it,” he noted.

National Treasurer Rosalia De Leon earlier  said the government was considering borrowing about $1 billion from the global market. In particular, it was looking at issuing inflation-linked bonds for the first time to sustain the country’s rapid economic expansion.

Analysts said it might be timely for the Philippines to go out again and price itself after having obtained investment grade status from three major international credit rating agencies on the back of a robust economy and improved governance.