Lacklustre bonds omitted as gov’t debt hunt resumes

Bonds, which represent the longer maturing debt for government, have underperformed in all the auctions since the raising of the debt ceiling to P30 billion last September. Central bank officials and market analysts have noted poor uptake of the bonds by investors such as pension and insurance funds, which typically target the longer maturing debt.

While the BoB is not bound to offer bonds at each of its monthly auctions, which raise debt for the government, the absence of the longer maturing paper comes as the Finance and Economic Development ministry engages the market to resolve the dilemma over the bonds.