Economics
Philippines Joins EM Central Banks’ Unorthodox Bond-Buying Club
- Central bank buys 45% of government bonds as of end-July
- Philippines joins Indonesia in financing government debt
A woman walks past signage displayed at the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas headquarters in Manila.
Photographer: Veejay Villafranca/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
The Philippine central bank is funding more of the government’s debt amid the pandemic as emerging markets turn to unconventional steps to finance record stimulus programs.
Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas purchased about 800 billion pesos ($16.4 billion) of government debt, or 45% of the country’s domestic borrowings through the end of July, according to Bureau of the Treasury data compiled by Bloomberg and confirmed by analysts. About 500 billion pesos of the total purchases were in the secondary market, while the remainder was directly from the government. The Bureau of the Treasury hasn’t responded to an email seeking confirmation of the data.