After political shenanigans over alleged election fraud and fiscal worries about the suspension of the expanded VAT, the Philippines finally completed its debt funding requirement for the year with a 10-year $1 billion issue led by Citigroup, Deutsche Bank and UBS.
The issue was well timed, immediately following congress's dismissal of impeachment charges against President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and after the courts had upheld the legality of the new consumer tax bill. The Philippines, of necessity a frequent borrower in the debt capital markets, is well versed in opportunistic timing and the deal was well received. It priced at a yield of 8.25% or 410 basis points over equivalent US treasuries. Now talk is that the government might tap the market for next year's funding.