MANILA: The Philippine government launched an offering of 10.5-year and 25-year US dollar-denominated bonds on Wednesday to raise funds needed to mitigate the economic damage of the coronavirus pandemic. The long-term benchmark bonds would carry a yield of around 100 basis points above the 10-year US Treasury benchmark, based on the government's initial guidance.

National Treasurer Rosalia De Leon could not say at this stage how much the government aimed to raise from the bond sale, which follows a similar US dollar bond offering in April that raised $2.35 billion.

The Philippines, one of Asia's most active issuers of sovereign debt, would use the proceeds from the bond sale to support its budget, the Bureau of the Treasury said.

Both chambers of congress have approved a record 4.5 trillion pesos ($93.7 billion) budget for 2021, part of which will be used to purchase Covid-19 vaccines as the government aims to immunize a third of its 108 million population. Credit Suisse, Daiwa Capital Markets, Deutsche Bank, Morgan Stanley, Standard Chartered Bank and UBS are joint bookrunners, IFR reported.