The Philippine government plans to issue at least 60 billion pesos ($1.37 billion) of new 10-year bonds in a swap for shorter-dated bonds as part of its debt-liability management programme, a senior official said on Wednesday. National Treasurer Rosalia de Leon said the offer period for the bond exchange began on Wednesday and will run until August 15. She said there will be no tender for the bonds.
Initially, the government said the price of the bonds would be announced August 18, but the Bureau of Treasury's website later said it will be on August 19. Settlement will be on August 20. The website also said the bureau had cancelled a regular auction of 10-year bonds on August 19 to so there would be no clash with the bond swap.
Holders of government securities maturing between September 2014 to June 2024 can participate in the swap, according to Reynaldo Montalbo, senior vice president at First Metro Investment Corp, one of the six banks hired to manage the offer. The existing 10-year bond was quoted at 4.0 percent in the secondary market on Wednesday. The other banks mandated to handle the deal were state-run Land Bank of Philippines and Development Bank of the Philippines, BDO Capital and Investment Corporation, BPI Capital Corp and HSBC.