The national government is gearing up for its plans to return to the international debt market in the remaining months of the year through the issuance of yen-, US dollar- and euro-denominated securities.
Finance secretary Ralph Recto told reporters at the sidelines of the Philippine Life Insurance Association’s anniversary celebration in Makati the preparation process has already began for the rest of the government’s foreign-denominated issuances this year.
“I think we will begin issuing, the Treasury, for the $3 billion that we need to borrow this year. The process has started, I’ll put it that way, because I signed it already yesterday,” Recto said.
Recto said the programmed offering will likely be $500 million for the Samurai bond issuance.
The Philippines last offered the Samurai bonds in April 2022, raising P28.55 billion.
Meanwhile, Recto also said the government is looking to issue euro-denominated bonds this year, as well as US dollar-bonds.
The last euro-denominated bonds was issued in April 2021, with the government generating P121.97 billion from the said offer.
Meanwhile, the government recently raised P115.25 billion from its dual-tranche global dollar bond offering in May.
“It doesn’t necessarily mean that it will start next week. There’s a procedure to follow. The Samurai might be the last one (to be issued among the three). The final decision will be made by the Treasury Department,” Recto said.
“Based on our advisors, I think it is the optimum time to get lower rates. The idea is to do it (soon) for the cheapest borrowing cost,” he added.
Recto assured there is nothing to worry about when it comes to the increasing nominal figure of the government’ outstanding debt.
“The economy will be bigger too. So the debt-to-gross domestic product will roughly be 60 percent That will be going down to 57 percent by 2028,” Recto said.
The national government’s outstanding debt is projected to hit P17.35 trillion by the end of 2025, data released by the Department of Budget and Management showed.
According to the Budget of Expenditures and Sources of Financing for fiscal year 2025, the expected debt level by the end of next year will be 8.08 percent higher than the projected P16.06 trillion by the end of this year.
Of the said amount, P11.98 trillion is estimated to come from domestic sources while P5.38 trillion will be accounted for by foreign financing.
