Gov’t raises P162.18B from retail T-bonds

The national government raised an initial P162.18 billion from the launch on Feb. 7 of the 5.5-year retail T-bonds (RTB), the 29th in a series of special issuances that began in 2001, enabling small investors especially overseas-based Filipinos to contribute to a P2.21-trillion borrowing program for 2023.

Dubbed RTB 29, which is being offered until Feb. 17 or earlier if the Bureau of the Treasury decides, fetched an average yield of 6.022 percent.

The latest RTB matures in March 2028 and is available for a minimum of P5,000.

Retail investors may access this offering by themselves through several digital platforms including the bonds.ph mobile app, the Land Bank of the Philippines app, the Overseas Filipino Banks app and the Treasury's own online ordering facility.

Exchange T-bonds

RTB 29 is also available through 21 banks that are participating as selling agents.

Another way is to exchange T-bonds that are soon maturing for RTB 29. Qualified to do this are dealers and holders of T-bonds that are maturing this coming March, April and May.

The BTr's offer is for P200 billion. At launch day, eligible dealers of government securities made available P196.109 billion for RTB 29, but the auction committee rejected P33.929 billion.

The latest RTBs come six months after RTB 28, from which the government raised P162.7 billion at launch day in August 2022. Total proceeds reached P420 billion at the end of the offer period.

National Treasurer Rosalia de Leon said that from the past 28 tranches, the government has raised a total of P4.8 trillion.

"Driven by the ever favorable reception of our RTBs since its inception in 2001, our retail investor base has developed from nearly nascent sources of financing requirements to extremely loyal and crucial supporters of our endeavors," De Leon said at the launch of RTB 29.

"Through our combined efforts with our 'ka-bondings' [investors in RTBs] our retail issuances have been a pivotal contributor to meeting our overall funding responsibilities as 38 percent of our outstanding government securities are retail instruments," she said.

This year, the national government is expected to borrow P2.21 trillion, of which P1.65 trillion or 75 percent will be sourced domestically.

"The bias toward the domestic market base is part of our prudent steps to hedge our positions from adverse effects or foreign exchange risk. It's another part of our sustainable borrowing operations," De Leon said.

She added that RTB 29 would help efforts to offer a more inclusive means to invest with the use of a distributed ledger technology, also known as blockchain.

The National Treasurer said that the BTr was working to be able to issue the national government's first ever tokenized bond.

"These developments will not only offer a more efficient way to invest in government securities but will also provide an additional layer of protection against cybersecurity risk," she said. INQ