(Bloomberg) -- Volume traded in the secondary market for peso bonds issued by Philippine entities reached a record of more than $160 billion this year, according to the nation’s fixed-income bourse, with the momentum likely to be sustained.
“It seems that we will be poised to sustain this level of market activity,” Antonino Nakpil, president of the Philippine Dealing & Exchange Corp. said on Friday, citing recent market reforms, including the launch of a revamped interest rate swap.
As of Thursday, 9.5 trillion pesos ($162 billion) worth of debt securities have changed hands, he said, adding the monthly volume averaged 1.1 trillion pesos from July to November.
In the primary market, new listings and enrollments of bonds at the local bond exchange reached 362.2 billion pesos this year, outpacing the 209 billion pesos in 2023, he said.
The Southeast Asian nation is pushing to deepen its capital market with reforms including the rate swaps launched last month and cutting the process for taxing residents of countries covered by tax treaties. A developed capital market helps businesses raise money apart from bank loans and provides more options for investors.
Read: Why the Philippines Wants to Build Its Capital Market: QuickTake
The peso interest rate swap market should facilitate bond issuances by Philippine firms, Nakpil said. The PDS Group, parent of the fixed-income exchange, is also looking to launch a forward bond program that will provide another interest-rate hedging mechanism for portfolio managers, he said. The Securities and Exchange Commission is expected to approve it soon, he added.
PDS is also set to start digitalizing documents this month including short-tenor instruments like commercial papers to encourage smaller enterprises to access debt markets.
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