PH, Thailand want no part...

Thai issuers shrank 10 percent to 5.1 trillion baht. Still, the size of the local-currency bond market in Thailand accounts for 81.2 percent of the nation’s gross domestic product, among the highest in Asian economies.

“Thai and Philippine banks have ample dollar liquidity to lend to their top corporates,” said Desmond Soon, head of investment management for Asia ex-Japan at Western Asset Management Co. in Singapore, “Also, most major corporates in these two countries have liquidity and run rather conservative balance sheets.”

Banks in the two countries may come to the dollar market opportunistically for senior funding but sub-debt can be easily done onshore, Soon at Western Asset said

The Thai and Philippine government have been encouraging local borrowing as they don’t want US dollar volatility on corporate balance sheets, said Ben Sy, head of fixed income, currencies and commodities at JPMorgan’s private- banking unit in Asia

It took many years for companies of the two countries to deleverage after the Asian crisis and for the countries to develop local bond markets

Don’t bet on Thai or Philippine issuers tapping the US dollar market any time soon, said Credit Suisse’s Chia, and Bank of Singapore’s Schubert.

“Given the rarity of these issuers in the dollar bond market, investor demand for these issuers will be strong as they seek to diversify their risks,” said Chia. (