Philippines to prepay $2.4-B of Napocor debt
10/17/2007 | 11:33 AM
The Philippines on Wednesday announced that it is looking at taking advantage of the peso's current strength and paying off at least $2.4 billion of the National Power Corp.'s $7-billion existing debt.
During a press conference, Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. chairman Jose Ibazeta said that they may use proceeds from the privatization of the power assets sold this year to settle the loans.
Ibazeta said the government may also borrow at cheaper terms in order to refinance the debt.
“In the past Napocor has been exposed with the peso depreciation during the Asian crisis from P26 to P56. Now, Napocor's exposure has been mitigated when the peso appreciated from P55 to P45. And that plan of refinancing, is to change the profile of the debt of Napocor, because we're actually 92-percent forex debt, and we want to shift that to peso to almost 42-percent," Ibazeta said.
According to Ibazeta about 32 percent of their debt portfolio is in yen, 55 percent in dollars, 9 percent in peso, 3 percent in Euro and less than 1 percent is in Korean won.
"Our priority would be (to settle) our debt in yen (because) the yen currency is the most volatile," Ibazeta told reporters.
Ibazeta said the government may pay off the $1.3-billion worth yen-denominated loan within the next six months.
As of September, Ibazeta said proceeds from the privatization of power facilities have already reached $568 million and it is expected to further increased to $800 million by year end with the upcoming bidding of four more power plants this year namely the Palinpinon, the National Transmission Corp., the Binga-Ambuklao facility and the Manila Thermal plant.- GMANews.TV
During a press conference, Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. chairman Jose Ibazeta said that they may use proceeds from the privatization of the power assets sold this year to settle the loans.
Ibazeta said the government may also borrow at cheaper terms in order to refinance the debt.
“In the past Napocor has been exposed with the peso depreciation during the Asian crisis from P26 to P56. Now, Napocor's exposure has been mitigated when the peso appreciated from P55 to P45. And that plan of refinancing, is to change the profile of the debt of Napocor, because we're actually 92-percent forex debt, and we want to shift that to peso to almost 42-percent," Ibazeta said.
According to Ibazeta about 32 percent of their debt portfolio is in yen, 55 percent in dollars, 9 percent in peso, 3 percent in Euro and less than 1 percent is in Korean won.
"Our priority would be (to settle) our debt in yen (because) the yen currency is the most volatile," Ibazeta told reporters.
Ibazeta said the government may pay off the $1.3-billion worth yen-denominated loan within the next six months.
As of September, Ibazeta said proceeds from the privatization of power facilities have already reached $568 million and it is expected to further increased to $800 million by year end with the upcoming bidding of four more power plants this year namely the Palinpinon, the National Transmission Corp., the Binga-Ambuklao facility and the Manila Thermal plant.- GMANews.TV
