THE BUREAU of the Treasury raised P97 billion from the latest issuance of retail treasury bonds, the public offering of which ended Tuesday.

National Treasurer Roberto B. Tan said the government raised P60 billion from the RTBs on top of the P25 billion raised from the price-setting auction held last Aug 10.

Tan added that the total amount raised included about P12 billion sold to government-owned and -controlled corporations through the Treasury?s over-the-counter facility.

?We allocated P10 billion a day [for six days] but the orders surpassed [the offering] overwhelmingly,? he said.

In a memo to eligible dealers of government securities issued Tuesday, Deputy Treasurer Eduardo S. Mendiola said that based on the daily cap, the Treasury issued each day P3 billion in five-year and seven-year RTBs and P4 billion for the 10-year notes.

Also last week, the Treasury announced the cancellation of an auction for regular five-year bonds set for Aug. 17 aimed at ensuring a smooth and orderly settlement of the RTBs.

Based on the results of last Tuesday?s price-setting auction, coupon rates for the five-year RTBs were pegged at 5.875 percent while those for the seven- and 10-year paper settled at 6.625 percent and 7.25 percent, respectively.

Initially, the Treasury issued P10 billion each for the five- and seven-year issues and P5 billion for the 10-year paper.

Officials of the Treasury and the group of banks mandated to arrange the issue are scheduled to wrap up today a roadshow aimed at promoting the RTBs outside Metro Manila.

The issue managers included First Metro Investment Corp., BDO Capital, BPI Capital, Development Bank of the Philippines, Landbank of the Philippines, Metropolitan Bank and Trust Co., Philippine National Bank and Rizal Commercial Banking Corp.

The roadshow, which kicked off in Makati City last week, covered the cities of Cebu, Davao, Cagayan de Oro and Laoag. Ronnel W. Domingo