By Joan Santiago
MANILA, Jan. 6 (PNA) — Fitch Ratings has given a ‘BBB-’ rating on the Philippines’ planned US dollar-denominated global bond due 2040.
In a statement, the ratings agency said rating of the debt watcher “would be sensitive to any changes” in the country’s long-term foreign currency issuer default (IDR) rating, which is also at “BBB-.”
The government said part of proceeds of the soon-to-be issued debt paper will be used to pay the bonds that would be offered for swap.
It has offered to swap 15 existing bonds due from January 2016 to 2034.
Settlement of the bond is expected to transpire on Jan. 20, 2015.
The government has tapped Citigroup Global Markets Inc., Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC, Deutsch Bank Securities Inc., Goldman Sachs (Asia) L.L.C., The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited, J.P. Morgan Securities LLC, Morgan Stanley & Co. International plc, Standard Chartered Bank and UBS AG, HongKong Branch as joint lead managers for the issuance.
The last time the Philippine government issued dollar-denominated global notes was in January 2014 amounting to USD 1.5 billion. (PNA)