P30B in 5-year RTBs up for auction

The Bureau of the Treasury will auction off an initial P30 billion in five-year retail treasury bonds (RTBs) on July 16 before making them available to small investors through a new app and other online channels.

On top of selling to new investors, the Treasury will also swap the new fixed-rate RTBs with two previously issued 10-year RTBs maturing on Aug. 19 and March 3 next year, as well as two fixed-rate treasury notes maturing on Aug. 20 and March 20, 2021, the notice of offering posted on the Treasury website on Friday showed.

Following the rate-setting auction set for Thursday, the RTBs maturing in 2025 will be offered until Aug. 7 or earlier to be determined by the Treasury. Settlement will be on Aug. 12.

The RTBs will be sold to small investors in multiples of P5,000.

For the first time, RTBs can be purchased via UnionBank of the Philippines’ mobile app Bonds.PH, which National Treasurer Rosalia de Leon said would be available on both Android and iOS mobile devices.

The RTBs will also be made available through the online ordering facilities of China Banking Corp., Development Bank of the Philippines, First Metro Securities and Brokerage Corp., Land Bank of the Philippines and Overseas Filipino Bank.

The same general rules apply for investors who will purchase through the app and online channels, inclu­ding the minimum investment of P5,000.

For those who will use Bonds.PH, payment options included InstaPay, PESONet, GCash and PayMaya.

De Leon said Bonds.PH would go live early this week. INQ