Treasury issues P181 billion in RTBs

The Bureau of the Treasury on Tuesday issued P181 billion in retail treasury bonds (RTBs) aimed at small investors.

In a statement, the Treasury said there was “strong” demand for RTBs, of which P70 billion were awarded to banks during the rate-setting auction on March 28.

The general investing public, meanwhile, snapped an additional P111 billion during the public offer period last March 28-April 7.

The Treasury said the RTBs attracted a total of P500 billion in tenders, making the IOUs oversubscribed by over 16 times the initial issue size of P30 billion.

It also noted that the final award was six times bigger than the minimum offering.

“The strong response especially from the retail investors proves the continuous success of RTBs,” National Treasurer Rosalia V. De Leon said.

“RTBs are an effective means to promote financial inclusion and literacy among Filipinos. The overwhelmingly positive response from the public indicates that more and more Filipinos are now getting into the habit of saving and investing, enabling themselves to reach their financial goals while at the same time doing their part in nation-building,” De Leon added.

For the government’s 19th RTB issuance, the coupon rate was set at 4.25 percent for the bonds maturing on April 11, 2020, higher than the 3.5 percent yield for the 10-year RTBs sold in September last year.

The Treasury tapped First Metro Investment Corp. and state-run Land Bank of the Philippines as joint lead issue managers.

The joint issue managers were BDO Capital and Investment Corp., BPI Capital Corp., China Bank Capital Corp., state-run Development Bank of the Philippines, and SB Capital Corp.

Last September, the Treasury issued P100 billion in RTBs, more than triple the P30-billion minimum offering.

The 18th RTB sale of the Philippine government was the first issuance under the President Duterte, aimed at augmenting funds for programs part of the administration’s 10-point socioeconomic agenda, especially infrastructure projects.