MANILA CITY – The Bureau of Local Government Finance (BLGF) Central and Regional Officials and employees, together with the officials and local finance committee members of the twenty-two (22) selected candidate cities and municipalities in the country, joined the two batches of the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) Online Capacity Building Workshop on Local Government Bond Financing held last 19 to 23 and 27 to 29 September 2022 via Zoom.

Deputy Treasurer of the Philippines, Mr. Erwin D. Sta. Ana, emphasized the importance of capacitating local government units (LGUs) on bond financing.

“These workshop sessions are intended to expand your knowledge of an LGU’s capability to raise capital through bond issuances. Our resource persons will guide you in developing a deeper understanding and appreciation for bond financing through discussions that will cover a bond’s legal framework, structure, pricing dynamics, issuance process, and comparison with loans, which typically LGUs tap presently. The goal of raising funds through LGU bonds is to gradually reduce reliance on loans and hopefully diversify the capital raising options of our LGUs. In turn, this can lead to better outcomes in terms of economic growth and stability. Hopefully, by the end of this week, you will be made more aware of this kind of financing and in the future make use of it”, Deputy Treasurer Sta. Ana said in an opening message.

The resource persons present in the said workshop are Mr. Mark C. Hong, Local Currency Debt Market Development Consultant – Asian Development Bank (ADB) and Officer-in-Charge of Capital Markets Strategy and Planning Division – BTr, Ms Imma Marie Hernandez, Senior Investment Banking Specialist – Land Bank of the Philippines (LBP), and Mr. Jose Angelo Abad, Senior Investment Associate – Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP).

Local government bond is included in the schemes allowed under the Local Government Code (LGC) of 1991 to raise financing to cover expenditure responsibilities and devolved functions. The Local Debt Monitoring and Evaluation Division (LDMED) of the Local Fiscal Policy Service (LFPS) monitors the borrowing capacity of LGUs and issues Certificates of Net Debt Service Ceiling and Borrowing Capacity (CNDSCBC).