Philippines raises US$1 billion from maiden sukuk issue

THE Philippines has raised US$1 billion from its maiden issue of sukuk or Islamic bonds, the country’s treasury bureau said in a statement on Thursday (Nov 30).

The offer with a 5.5 year tenor fetched a yield of 5.045 per cent, with demand nearly five times oversubscribed from the offer, the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) said.

The sukuk issue is part of the Philippine government’s plans to develop Islamic banking in the predominantly Catholic nation, with just nearly 6.4 per cent Muslims out of nearly 110 million people.

“We hope this transaction will create positive momentum for Islamic banking and finance in the Philippines, and we look forward to the active participation of all stakeholders,” Finance Secretary Benjamin Diokno was quoted as saying in the statement.

Citigroup, Deutsche Bank, Dubai Islamic Bank, HSBC, MUFG, and Standard Chartered Bank acted as bookrunners and managers for the deal.

The Philippines is one of Asia’s most active sovereign debt issuers. The country plans to borrow around US$44 billion from debt markets, with about a quarter of that coming from foreign sources, to fund the government’s budget of US$104.1 billion for next year. REUTERS