Local bourse may soon trade PPP infrastructure securities

THE PHILIPPINE Stock Exchange (PSE) is aiming to firm up by next year a framework that would guide the issuance and trading of public private partnership (PPP) infrastructure securities.

Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a forum by the Center for Philippine Futuristics Studies and Management, PSE president Hans Sicat said the PPP securities issuance at the local bourse could open up an opportunity to raise fresh funds for infrastructure projects.

The PSE earlier said it has teamed up with the government’s PPP Center to find ways for the issuance of PPP securities at the local stock market, allowing the capital market to play a bigger role in the much-needed infrastructure financing.

Asked what kinds of securities would be most suitable to PPP financing apart from equities, Sicat said it could be in the form of corporate bonds.

The PSE is currently working to take over the Philippine Dealing Systems Holdings Corp. (PDS), which is seen to result in the consolidation of the country’s capital market infrastructure. PDS owns fixed-income trading platform Philippine Dealing & Exchange Corp. (PDEx), which means that bonds could soon be traded at the local bourse.

“The other thing which would work very well for PPP is the REIT (Real Estate Investment Trust) structure,” Sicat said.

REIT gives investors the option to invest directly on finished products that are already earning money, such as residential and office units, hotels or shopping malls, or even infrastructure ventures like toll roads and power plants.