Philippines raises $1.5-B from global bond sale
MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines raised $1.5 billion of debt from the sale of 10-year global bonds, the Bureau of the Treasury reported Tuesday, marking the first such issue from an emerging market this year.
National Treasurer Rosalia de Leon said the offering, which fetched a 3.75 percent coupon rate, “demonstrates strong conviction from the global investor community” on the Philippines’ economic fundamentals.
“We have garnered strong support from the global fixed income investor community despite recently heightened volatilities in the global markets,” De Leon said in a statement.
The offshore bonds — launched on Monday — were priced 110 basis points above benchmark, lower than the initial pricing guidance of plus 130 bps. Demand for the issue reached $4 billion, the government said.
The US dollar notes were rated “Baa2” by Moody’s and “BBB” by both S&P and Fitch.
Proceeds from the bond float will be used to provide budgetary support for the Philippine government, which has embarked on an ambitious infrastructure program.
Investors from Asia, the US and Europe — most of whom were asset managers — swarmed the Philippines’ US dollar-denominated bond sale, the BTr said.
Bank of China, J.P. Morgan, and Standard Chartered Bank acted as joint global coordinators for the transaction while Citigroup, Credit Suisse, Goldman Sachs (Asia) L.L.C., and UBS were joint bookrunners.
“This transaction further illustrates deepening investor confidence in the Philippines’ growth story and the Duterte administration’s ability to maintain fiscal discipline while spending big on infrastructure modernization, human capital development and social protection for the poor,” Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III said.
The government plans to borrow P297.2 billion ($5.504 billion) from external creditors this year. — Ian Nicolas Cigaral
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