Phl to hold non-deal roadshow in US this wk

MANILA, Philippines - The Aquino Administration will hold a non-deal roadshow in key cities in the US this week to provide an update on the Philippines’ fiscal and macroeconomic situation as well as its proposed borrowing program and rehabilitation plans for the storm-batted Eastern Visayas.

National Treasurer Rosalia V. De Leon and Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas deputy governor Diwa C. Guinigundo will lead the three-day roadshow which will take them to Boston, New York, Philadelphia and Los Angeles.

A non-deal roadshow is a large meeting or conference put together for the purpose of meeting potential investors without a specific agreement and nothing is offered for sale.

The government has tapped Citigroup, HSBC, Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan, Morgan Stanley and Standard Chartered Bank to help arrange the roadshow.

The move is in preparation for the country’s return to the offshore bond market to take advantage of the healthy market appetite for Philippine paper on the back of the country’s robust macroeconomic fundamentals that prompted major credit rating agencies to upgrade the Philippines to investment grade.

The country is growing at  a steady pace, expanding by at least  seven percent for five straight quarters  to make it the second-fastest growing economy in Asia after China.

De Leon said the government has yet to firm up its 2014 borrowing program, which could include plans to sell $1 billion worth of bonds in the international market.

Last year, the Philippines raised $1.5 billion from the sale of notes in the US currency.

Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima earlier said the country would borrow $2.2 billion from foreign lenders next year, some of which will be in the form of official development assistance (ODA) loans, which have very low interest rates.