Treasury to offer up to P60B in retail bonds

The Bureau of Treasury will not push through with an auction of P9 billion in 10-year Treasury bonds. Instead, the agency will issue P50 to P60 billion in retail treasury bonds (RTBs) Monday next week. Ten banks received the government mandate to handle the planned RTB sale. These banks are Banco de Oro, First Metro Investment Corp., Metropolitan Bank and Trust Co., Bank of the Philippine Islands Capital Corp., Development Bank of the Philippines, Land Bank of the Philippines, Rizal Commercial Banking Corp., Philippine National Bank, China Banking Corp., and Deutsche Bank AG. The RTBs, with 10- to 15-year tenors, are part of its savings mobilization program designed to make government securities available to retail investors and, at the same time, generate savings and investment consciousness among Filipinos. The RTBs will allow investors to buy the debt paper for the minimum transaction value of P5,000. Treasury data show the government has P60 billion in maturing RTBs this year, which authorities hope to siphon off anew with the planned offering before October ends. The bureau is hopeful it will match last March’s RTB proceeds of P104 billion. Of this amount, the government sold roughly P79 billion to the public, while P26 billion went to its bond sinking fund and to government-owned and –controlled corporations. Economic planners aim to keep the 2011 budget deficit at roughly P300 billion, or 3.2 percent of the gross domestic product. — PE/ELR, GMA News