PHL needs to boost liquidity to join JPMorgan bond index

THE Philippines should focus on boosting the liquidity and increasing the size of benchmark bonds to ensure the inclusion in JPMorgan Chase & Co.'s Government Bond Index-Emerging Markets (GBI-EM) by 2026, analysts said.

- Aaron Michael C. Sy Reporter

At the same time, National Treasurer Sharon P. Almanza said she is hopeful that the Philippines will be officially included in the bond index after the sixto nine-month assessment period.

"We will continue to deepen the secondary market liquidity through consolidation of our issuances and continue building benchmarks. We've also introduced the Primary Dealer System and this will help both our primary auction and the secondary market," she said in a Viber message.

She said the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) will continue to issue benchmark tenors that will be formulated "based on our debt management strategy while taking into account and assessing the demand of our investors."