Financial ties between the Philippines and China grows even closer.
The Philippines has signed a deal with the Bank of China for its planned bond sale in the Chinese market, where the government is eyeing to raise 1.4 billion in yuan-denominated debt papers.
In a statement, the Department of Finance said Secretary Carlos Dominguez III signed the underwriting agreement with Bank of China chairman Chen Siqing during a meeting in Malaca?ang.
The agreement means the state-owned bank will purchase the so-called “panda bonds” and resell it to Chinese investors. This marks the first time for the Philippines to issue debt papers in the Chinese currency.
“The Panda bond issue will diversify our funding sources and provide benchmarks for other Philippine issuers in the onshore market, particularly at this time that the renminbi is a reserve currency,” National Treasurer Rosalia de Leon said in the statement.
?The bond issue will also complement the financial support from China for the implementation of critical infrastructure projects,? she added.