Philippines plans to issue 200-mln-USD Panda bonds in China

The Philippines plans to "test the debt market" in China by issuing yuan-denominated Panda bonds by around November this year, Philippine Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez announced on Wednesday.

"We are happy that the Bank of China has come to our assistance. It's a small issue, the first baby step we are issuing, a 200 million U.S. dollars bond by around November of this year. This will be the first of many in the future," Dominguez said in a statement released by the Philippine Department of Finance.

Dominguez and the Philippine economic team proceeded to Shanghai recently to hold a "non-deal" roadshow for the planned Panda bond issue.

The Philippine government is currently in the process of securing the necessary approvals and fulfilling the requirements to tap China's bond market, the largest among Asia's emerging economies.

Panda bonds are yuan-denominated debt sold by foreign countries and overseas agencies in China.