PH rings up $3B  in fresh foreign debt

The Marcos administration successfully priced its $3-billion bond triple-trance dollar issuance, for which demand was so strong that the order book peaked at $28.2 billion, Finance Secretary Benjamin Diokno said in a statement Tuesday.

The Philippines is borrowing $500 million through 5.5-year bonds at a cost of 4.743 percent; $1.25 billion through 10-year bonds at 5.001 percent; and $1.25 billion through 25-year bonds at 5.5 percent.

Diokno said that compared to the guide prices, they were able to secure final prices that were lower by 50 bps [0.5 percentage point] for the 5.5-year and 10-year bonds and 45 bps [0.45 ppt] for the 25-year bonds,  while still upsizing the transaction from an initial target issue size of $2 billion

Proceeds from the new issue are mainly to support the national government’s expenses, which are projected to surpass revenues by P1.47 trillion in 2023.

Settlement of this latest issuance is scheduled for Jan. 17.