Treasury sells P60B in RTBs

The Bureau of the Treasury on Tuesday accepted P60 billion in bids to kick off the first issuance of retail treasury bonds (RTBs) under the Duterte administration, selling at an annual rate of 3.466 percent.

“We had a very good turnout of our auction to price the RTBs,” National Treasurer Roberto B. Tan told reporters.

The Treasury received over P123.7 billion in tenders for the 10-year debt paper with the interest rate set at 3.5 percent.

The Treasury had announced to sell at least P30 billion in bonds maturing in 2016.

The public offer period will be until Sept. 16. Issuance will be on Sept. 20.

“We are very glad to see the turnout of the auction, [which was] more than four times oversubscribed. [We had a] very reasonable rate which would be attractive for investors and also advantageous for the borrowers,” Tan added.

To better promote the debt offering aimed at small investors, the Treasury will embark on road shows to promote the RTBs in the cities of Davao, Cebu, Cagayan de Oro, Iloilo, Naga, Batangas, Baguio, Makati and Manila, according to Tan.

The proceeds of the 18th RTB tranche of the Philippine government will be used as “buffer” to finance projects to be rolled out for the rest of the year, Tan said.

“As you know, we are ramping up our infrastructure expenditures as well as the provision of social services for human capital development,” he said.

The fixed rate bonds will be sold until Sept. 16 by 15 selling agents: Banco de Oro Universal Bank, China Banking Corp., Citibank N.A., Development Bank of the Philippines, East West Banking Corp., Land Bank of the Philippines, Metropolitan Bank and Trust Co., Philippine Bank of Communications, Rizal Commercial Banking Corp., Security Bank Corp., ING Bank, BPI Capital Corp., First Metro Investment Corp., Robinson Bank Corp., and BDO Capital and Investment Corp.

The RTBs will be sold to individuals, corporations (except state-run firms), financial institutions as well as institutional investors, Deputy Treasurer Erwin D. Sta. Ana said in an investors’ briefing.

The Philippine government last issued RTBs in 2013, during which P150 billion was raised at 3.25 percent.