Bond market grows at faster pace in Q1

The Philippine bond market expanded at a faster pace in the first quarter than the previous threemonth period, fueled by the increase in government issuances, according to the Asian Development Bank (ADB).

- Louella Desiderio

In a report, the ADB said the Philippines' local currency bond market rose by 2.2 percent to P12.3 trillion ($219 billion) in the first quarter from a year ago.

The 2.2-percent growth in the first quarter is faster than the one-percent increase in the fourth quarter of last year.

On a year-on-year basis, the Philippine bond market went up by 6.4 percent in the first quarter.

The ADB attributed the growth in the bond market in the first quarter to the higher issuance of the government and the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas.

It said treasury and other government bonds outstanding increased by 2.7. percent while central bank securities rose by 20.2 percent in the first quarter.

Meanwhile, corporate bonds continued to decline in the first quarter, tumbling by 8.2 percent due to a large number of maturities and a low volume of issuance during the review period.