In a report, the ADB said the Philippines’ local currency bond market rose by 2.2 percent to P12.3 trillion in the first quarter from a year ago.MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine bond market expanded at a faster pace in the first quarter than the previous three-month period, fueled by the increase in government issuances, according to the Asian Development Bank .
It said treasury and other government bonds outstanding increased by 2.7 percent while central bank securities rose by 20.2 percent in the first quarter. “The increase in overall issuance was largely driven by Treasury and other government bonds, which issuance expanded by almost threefold to P1.2 trillion from the previous quarter’s P400 billion, as the government frontloaded its issuance for the year,” the ADB said.
Banks and investment houses, as well as contractual savings institutions and tax-exempt institutions remained the primary holders of local currency government bonds as of end-March, with a combined share of about 80 percent of the total local currency government debt stock. With the resumption of corporate bond issuances, the amount of sustainable bonds outstanding picked up by two percent in the first quarter to $8.5 billion, with more than half coming from the corporate sector.