PHL sells P110B in retail Treasury bonds

The Philippine government sold P110 billion in retail treasury bonds (RTBs) during a six-day offering period, the Bureau of Treasury said Tuesday. The amount is higher than the P104 billion sold earlier this year, said Deputy Treasurer Ed Mendiola. The offer of 10- and 15-year RTBs, which ended Monday, attracted buyers of government bonds as well as ordinary retail investors in search of better investment options. During the six-day period, the 2021 bonds fetched a 5.75-percent coupon rate while the 15-year paper fetched a 6.25-percent coupon rate. Ten banks were hired by the Philippine government to sell the RTBs. These banks were BDO Capital, First Metro Investment Corp., Metropolitan Bank and Trust Co., BPI 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 issuance of RTBs forms part of government’s savings mobilization program to make government securities available to retail investors and, at the same time, create a form of savings consciousness among Filipinos. The RTBs were denominated P5,000 lots to allow retail investors to buy the debt paper. Last week, the government also capped a repurchase of dollar and euro bonds, buying back $1.7 billion, including interest, as part of its debt liability management efforts. — PE/VS, GMA News