Philippines returns to global debt market

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January 21, 2026 | 12:00am

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines returned to the international capital markets yesterday with the launch of a triple-tranche dollar global bond offering, backed by fresh investment-grade ratings from major credit watchers that signaled sustained confidence in the country’s credit profile.

In a statement, the Bureau of the Treasury announced the offering of dollar-denominated fixed rate securities consisting of 5.5-year, 10-year and 25-year tranches.

Initial pricing guidance was set at the Treasury-plus 70 basis points area for the 5.5-year tranche, T-plus 100 basis points area for the 10-year tranche and the 5.900 percent area for the 25-year tranche.

The bonds are expected to be priced late Tuesday (Manila time) during the New York trading session and are scheduled to be settled on Jan. 27.

Finance Secretary Frederick Go said the issuance reflects the government’s policy direction and reform agenda.

“The Marcos administration remains firmly committed to promoting strong and inclusive socioeconomic growth. This transaction underscores our steadfast dedication to sound fiscal policy and sustainable development,” Go said.

“We are confident that our policy direction and reform agenda will continue to resonate with the global investment community and support a successful outcome for this offering,” he added.

National Treasurer Sharon Almanza said market conditions are favorable for the country’s return to the offshore bond market.

“Anchored on stable fundamentals and our recent credit affirmation, this transaction reflects our proactive and strategic approach to secure cost-efficient funding while advancing the national government’s development priorities. We value the continued confidence and support of our investors,” she said.

The global bonds are expected to carry investment-grade ratings of Baa2 from Moody’s Ratings, BBB+ from S&P Global Ratings and BBB from Fitch Ratings.

S&P Global Ratings said it assigned its “BBB+” long-term foreign currency issue rating to the benchmark-size dollar-denominated senior unsecured bonds that the Philippines proposes to issue.

The bonds “represent direct, general, unconditional, unsecured and unsubordinated obligations of the Philippines” and “rank equally with the sovereign’s other unsecured and unsubordinated debt obligations,” it said.

Moody’s Ratings, meanwhile, assigned senior unsecured ratings of Baa2 to the government’s global bond offerings to be drawn from its existing shelf program, including tranches maturing in 2031, 2036 and 2051.

According to Moody’s, the bonds “will constitute direct, unconditional and unsubordinated obligations of the Government of the Philippines” and “will rank pari passu with all of the issuer’s current and future senior unsecured external debt obligations.”

Moody’s said the proceeds from the bonds are intended for general purposes, including budgetary support and the repayment of a portion of the government’s borrowings. The ratings “mirror the Government of the Philippines’ issuer rating of Baa2,” it added.

Fitch Ratings also assigned the proposed dollar bond offerings a “BBB” rating, in line with the country’s long-term foreign-currency issuer default rating.

It added that the rating is sensitive to any changes in the country’s credit profile, noting that adjustments to the sovereign rating could affect the bonds’ rating.

BofA Securities, Deutsche Bank, HSBC, J.P. Morgan, Morgan Stanley, Standard Chartered Bank and UBS are acting as joint lead managers and bookrunners for the transaction.

The transaction marks the government’s first offshore bond sale for 2026, following a $2.25 billion and €1 billion dual-currency issuance in January 2025, a $2.5 billion triple-tranche offering in August 2024 and a $2 billion dual-tranche sale in May 2024.