Gov’t accepts debt swaps worth

The national government has managed to stretch its average debt maturity profile after its latest domestic debt swap exercise, the Bureau of the Treasury reported yesterday. In a statement, National Treasurer Roberto B. Tan said yesterday that the government accepted 237 billion worth of debt to be exchanged with fresh 2025 and 2040 bonds. Aside from longer maturity profile, Tan said the debt swap also resulted in interest savings for the government. A total of P388 billion worth of existing eligible bonds were offered under the domestic debt swap program, which is nearly four times more than the minimum issue size of P100 billion for the new bonds. “We are very pleased with the unwavering support from the market. We will continue to work with investors to ensure that the Republic maintains an efficient debt portfolio while achieving competitive funding rates,” Tan said. The treasury bureau set a coupon rate of 3.625 percent for the 10-year bond and 4.625 percent for the 25-year bond. With the transaction, the government will save about 2.4 billion of interest costs, and the average maturity of bonds accepted in the debt exchange will be stretched by 10.7 years. The government also raised around fresh 9.6 billion from the sale of new bonds of the same 10-year maturity. For this deal, BPI Capital, Citicorp Capital Philippines, HSBC and Land Bank of the Philippines acted as joint global coordinators. BDO Capital & Investment, BPI Capital, Citicorp Capital Philippines, Deutsche Bank, Development Bank of the Philippines, First Metro Investment, HSBC, and Land Bank, meanwhile, acted as joint deal managers on this transaction. (CSL)