BPO growth to provide ample liquidity to bond market
The growth in the country’s business process outsourcing (BPO) sector, growing remittances from overseas Filipinos, and higher government spending will ensure ample liquidity in the Philippine bond market, a San Miguel Corp (SMC) spokesman said. Reports said Philippine companies are expected to issue more local bonds to retail investors to reduce dollar debt and trim currency risk. One of them is SMC, one of the largest conglomerates in the country, which is eyeing more peso bonds to reduce its dependence on dollar borrowings. SMC is targeting proceeds of P15bn (USD300m) from the sale of fixed-rate peso bonds with tenors of five, seven and 10 years, with an oversubscription option of P5bn.