Philippines raises $842 millions from euro bonds sale

The Philippine government raised 750 million euros ($842.33 million) in eight-year euro-denominated bonds in an offering that was six times oversubscribed, a senior finance official said on Friday. The euro bonds issue, which was the country's first in 13 years, had a coupon of 0.875 percent and offers 70 bps over benchmark, National Treasurer Rosalia De Leon said.
The offer attracted strong demand even after the Philippines, one of Asia's most active sovereign bond issuers, posted a weaker-than-expected growth in the first quarter, De Leon said. Weak exports and farm output and a delay in the approval of this year's budget slowed the Philippine economy's annual growth to 5.6 percent in the March quarter.