Finance Secretary Margarito B. Teves said they are amenable to deferring the $500 million to $1 billion yen bond float to early 2010 if the agreements reducing guarantee fees will have a delayed approval.

Teves said it will depend on how the discussion will proceed and if they could still make the offer for this year.

Last week the National Government raised a $1 billion from the sale of global bonds to plug the widening budget deficit and partly to pre-fund next year’s dollar requirements. The additional funds have lessened the urgency to issue the yen bonds.

The Philippines has so far raised $3.25 billion worth of ROPs this year compared to only $500 million in 2008.

Bureau of the Treasury chief Roberto Tan said previously that they plan to issue yen bonds or Samurai bonds worth $500 million in the last quarter. The bonds will have a guarantee from the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC). (LCC)