Philippines launches 10-year US dollar bonds

President Rodrigo Duterte has promised to usher in a “golden age of infrastructure” by raising annual spending on it to more than 7 percent of gross domestic product from less than 3 percent before he began his term. (Reuters)

MANILA: The Philippines on Thursday launched 10-year US dollar bonds, the Bureau of Treasury said, to help fund President Rodrigo Duterte’s record budget this year.
The bureau did not say how much it planned to offer, but a source with direct knowledge of the transaction said the size of the issue is $2 billion (SR7.5 billion).
The bond deal has a new money component of $1 billion and bond swap of another $1 billion, the source said, declining to be identified because other details of the issue are not yet public.
Proceeds from the bond sale will be used to help finance the national government’s 3.8 trillion pesos budget this year, the biggest ever, as Duterte boosts infrastructure spending.
The bonds are marketed at initial yield guidance in the 3.30 percent area, said IFR, a unit of Thomson Reuters.
Citigroup and Standard Chartered are dealer managers for the tender, which ends on Thursday at 4pm New York time.