The Republic of the Philippines raised $250 million from a Reg S eurobond yesterday via HSBC, First Metro and Land Bank of the Philippines.
The original intention of the three-year deal was to widen the Bureau of Treasury's retail bond programme. Since it first inaugurated the programme in 2001, the Treasury has progressively built up true retail participation in special issue government bonds from 10% to 30% of the overall issue size.
The new deal was supposed to mark the first one in which domestic retail investors could participate in the government's dollar issuance. However, the Bureau does not appear to have thought through the tax implications very thoroughly and...
