Philippine bond market posts fastest growth in emerging East Asia in Q1

THE PHILIPPINE bond market posted the fastest growth in the emerging East Asia region in the first quarter, rebounding from the contraction seen in the prior quarter, amid a surge in issuances as the government front-loaded its borrowings, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) said in a report.

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The ADB's June 2025 Asia Bond Monitor report showed that outstanding local currency (LCY) bonds increased by 4.1% to $235 billion (P13.5 trillion) at end-March, rebounding from the 0.6% contraction recorded the quarter prior.

This was the fastest quarter-on-quarter (q-o-q) expansion seen in the emerging East Asia region, the ADB’s report showed. This was also quicker than the regional average of 2.7%.

However, the Philippine LCY bond market was the second smallest in the region in terms of size, beating only Vietnam’s $126 billion.

Year on year, the Philippines’ outstanding LCY bonds grew by 9.4%.