Philippines seeks $1.5 billion in bond offering

MANILA: The Philippines said Monday it was looking to raise $1.5 billion from a global bond issue this year.

The government has hired Citigroup, Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs, HSBC, JP Morgan and UBS as lead managers for the 15 year bond issue, although no date has been set for the issue, national treasurer Roberto Tan said.

Tan said if the bond issue raised $1.5 billion, the government would not need to look for any more foreign commercial borrowings this year, according to Dow Jones Newswires.

Manila said last year that it would tap the international bond market as it tries to plug a huge budget deficit, with an overall funding shortfall this year expected to reach 3.2 percent of gross domestic product.