Singapore’s planned issuance of the SINGA bonds is a “long term positive” for the development of the Singapore dollar (SGD) bond market, according to Maybank Kim Eng (Maybank KE).
SINGA bonds – which will be used to finance the country’s major long-term infrastructure – can help add diversity to the existing Singapore Government Securities (SGS), says the brokerage.
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The bonds will also widen the investor base and perhaps enhance liquidity depth of SGD bonds, it adds.
Maybank KE expects the issuance size of the SINGA bonds to be similar to SGS.
“We forecast a size of $2.7 billion, with issuance potentially in November (announcement of details in September) after the last scheduled auction in October,” Maybank KE analysts Winson Phoon and Se Tho Mun Yi write in a noted dated Feb 19.
The first issuance size could be likely at least $1.5 billion, which it says is for the new bonds to be considered for inclusion in the FTSE Russell World Government Bond Index (WGBI).
Maybank KE reckons the bond tenor may tilt toward long duration of more than 10 years to reflect the long gestation period of infrastructure projects.
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The actual tenor, nevertheless, will be subject to market demand, it notes.
Extending the SGS curve beyond the 30-year point is also a possibility, if market conditions permit, says Maybank KE.
Currently, the longest maturity bond in the SGD market is a 40-year bond issued by the Land Transport Authority (LTA).
In the US dollar space, the longest maturity was issued by Temasek with a 50-year tenor last October.
