Purisima: PHL to wait for markets to settle before issuing global bonds

Before tapping the global debt market anew, the government will wait until financial markets gain more stability, Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima said Thursday. “At this stage, the market is too volatile to go into a transaction," Purisima explained, noting that the Philippines has the authority to issue $3 billion worth of global bonds and global peso bonds. The authority came from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), which aims to fill the country’s remaining borrowing needs this year by issuing global peso and US dollar bonds. Even without tapping the global debt markets for now, however, the Philippines remains in a comfortable fiscal position, Purisima said. “Our deficit is way below our program. Our collections are much higher than last year. We can really afford to just wait on the sidelines until the market clears up and gives us the opportunity to go back and [do] our transactions," the secretary explained. In the first half of 2011, government’s budget gap stood at P17.2 billion compared to P152 billion programmed for the period. Meanwhile, Finance Undersecretary Rosalia de Leon said the planned dollar-to-peso bond swap has yet to have a structure. “The structure will depend on market conditions. We’re not saying we’re pulling back. We don’t have a timetable for it. It all depends on how market conditions will play out," De Leon said in a separate interview. The government plans to borrow $4.5 billion from external sources this year. — PE/VS, GMA News