by Juan_Tamad » Thu Sep 16, 2010 8:01 am
Then the GOOD NEWS,,
THERE was nothing unusual, of course, about the Philippine government issuing IOUs. As a matter of fact, the government last year issued more than a trillion pesos worth of bonds. I tell you, if you want to get rich, one way is to master the bond market here. The name of the financial game now is bonds.
Anyway, last week’s bond issuance, ably handled by the national treasury, was directed at foreign banks. The big difference was that the bonds were denominated in pesos.
Let me repeat that: Foreign investors bought peso-denominated bonds. They were not dollar or yen or euro bonds.
It never happened before. In the past, when the government issued IOUs, they were always denominated mainly in the currencies of the world’s richest countries.
In a way, the banks then were saying that investors did not have any confidence in the Philippine peso. It ultimately meant they did not like the way the Philippine economy was going, how the government was running it.
And so for the first time ever for this country, and even for the entire Asean region, investors abroad accepted government IOUs denominated in the local currency—worth an equivalent of $1 billion, at that!
The banks must have thought hard about their bids, considering all the risks involved in getting peso bonds at low yield. The amount was not … well, peanuts.
RULES TO REMEMBER IN LIFE:
1. Money can't buy happiness but it’s more comfortable to cry in a BMW than on a bicycle.
2. Many people are alive only because it’s illegal to shoot them.
3. Alcohol does not solve any problems, but then again, neither does milk
by 
