Gov’t to offer P30 billion in 3-year retail treasury bonds

MANILA, Philippines – The Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) will auction off at least P30 billion worth of retail treasury bonds (RTBs) in a bid to get more Filipinos into investing.

The RTBs will have a 3-year tenor and will be offered to the general investing public for minimum denominations of P5,000 beginning next Tuesday, March 28, until April 6.

This will be the 2nd retail bond offering under the Duterte administration, which raised around P100 billion from a similar offering in September 2016.

While the RTBs form part of its funding program, the government is also pushing the offering as a way to promote wider financial literacy in the country.

“We want more Filipinos to get into the habit of investing, and become more financially aware of how their money could work harder for them,” said National Treasurer Rosalia de Leon in a statement on Thursday, March 23.

These bonds offer an opportunity for the investing public to access affordable and higher-yielding instruments compared to regular time deposits. They are also low-risk and the 3-year tenor makes them more attractive to Filipinos who want to invest, explained De Leon.

The offering will earn the government a fixed interest rate based on prevailing market rates with interest coupons paid quarterly.

To go along with the offering, the BTr said it will also hold investment roadshows on the issuance of RTBs in major cities throughout the country, including Metro Manila, Baguio, Batangas, Cagayan de Oro, Cebu, Davao, Iloilo, Pampanga, and Legazpi.

First Metro Investment Corporation and the Land Bank of the Philippines were tapped as joint lead issue managers for the RTB offering.

Meanwhile, BDO Capital & Investment Corporation, BPI Capital Corporation, Development Bank of the Philippines, China Bank Capital Corporation, and SB Capital Corporation will serve as joint issue managers. – Rappler.com