The Republic of the Philippines Issues New 10 Year Peso-Denominated Global Bonds

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The Republic of the Philippines (the “Republic”) successfully returned to the international capital markets with its offering of PHP30.8 billion (US$750 million-equivalent) of 10-year PHP Global Bonds.

The newly-issued PHP Global Bonds, the third of their kind to be offered by the Republic, were priced at 100.00% with a coupon of 3.90%.

The bookbuilding process took approximately 8 hours. By geographical allocation, 30% came from Asia, 41% from the U.S. and 29% from Europe.

Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima commented, “the transaction allowed global investors the opportunity to participate in the impressive growth story of the Philippine economy, which is considered today to be one of the safest emerging market sovereigns to invest in.”

Finance Undersecretary Rosalia De Leon added that, “positive investor perception of the Philippine credit allowed us to achieve our objective of redenominating our debt into the local currency.”

Proceeds of the issuance will be used to fund the Republic’s ongoing tender offer of its existing US$ and Euro-denominated bonds. The Republic may also use the proceeds for general purposes, including budgetary support.

The U.S. SEC-registered PHP Global Bonds, which are peso-denominated but U.S. dollar-settled, is part of the government’s proactive efforts in managing its external liabilities as the exercise reduces the foreign exchange risk inherent in the Republic’s outstanding debt portfolio.

Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank, and HSBC acted as joint global coordinators and Citi, Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs, HSBC, J.P. Morgan, Morgan Stanley, Standard Chartered Bank, and UBS acted as joint bookrunners for the transaction.

This press release is not an offer of securities for sale in the United States, and any securities offered in the United States may not be offered or sold in the United States absent registration or an exemption from registration. Any offering of securities by the Republic in the United States would be made by means of a prospectus, which would be obtainable from the Republic or the joint bookrunners and would contain detailed information about the Republic, including certain statistical information.