Gov’t urged to issue more samurai bonds

A Tokyo-based securities company is urging the Philippines to regularly tap the Japanese market for additional funds to finance its massive infrastructure buildup.

Katsuhiko Yasui, president of SMBC Nikko Securities (Hong Kong) Ltd., said the samurai bonds issued by the Philippines last August was well accepted by Japanese investors.

“It is important to continue to tap the Japanese investors hopefully every year,” he said.

The Philippine raised $1.39 billion as it held the largest issuance of a senior samurai bond for the year, exceeding the issuance made by Indonesia and Mexico.

Sansui cited the case of Indonesia that has been trying to raise funds via the Japanese debt market since 2009.

“The Philippine government should follow this kind of behavior,” Sansui said.

SMBC Nikko Securities vice president for debt capital markets Yuki Mochizuki said the size raised by the Philippines was the biggest samurai bond issuance size from Asian issuers, reflecting the strong interest of Japanese investors in the country.

“What we want to say is now, a lot of Japanese investors are interested in the Philippine economy, they are very familiar with Philippines,” Mochizuki said.

Mochizuki said the Philippines should hold more road shows, economic briefings, and site visits to showcase the country’s economy as well as massive investment opportunities.

“Now a lot of Japanese investors are very interested in Philippines as a country. However, they don’t know other cities,” Mochizuki said.

Philippine economic managers recently held an economic briefing in Tokyo followed by the Philippine Economic Briefing held at the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) last Sept. 17.

The BSP’s Investor Relations Office also brought local and regional bank analysts, portfolio strategists, and economists to view the developments at the New Clark City in Tarlac to showcase the government’s massive infrastructure build up.

“We want to convey message about New Clark City and we want more Japanese investors to become interested in the Philippine economy further,” he added.

Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez had said the government is keen on tapping the samurai and panda bond markets anew in the next 12 to 18 months.

“We learned that it’s very difficult to get back into a market if you are absent for like eight years. We were not in the Japanese bond market for eight years and it was a little difficult. If we do one issue every year or every 18 months, it should be good for us,” Dominguez earlier said.