Finance Secretary Benjamin Diokno(File photo/Senate PRIB)
The Philippine government’s maiden offer of “sukuk” bonds is slated for debut by the end of November, with a goal of raising about $1 billion, according to Finance Secretary Benjamin Diokno.
The intention is to issue this fixed-income debt instrument, which complies with shari’ah or religious laws of Islam, as part of efforts to diversify sources of financing by engaging untapped financial markets.
This follows the most recent legs of the Marcos administration’s international roadshow to promote investment opportunities in the Philippines, which brought the economic team to Doha in Qatar and Dubai in the United Arab Emirates.
“The launch of the sukuk bonds could be [done] in Abu Dhabi [in the UAE], which we were not able to visit [during the Middle East roadshow],” Diokno said in a briefing with journalists.
Meanwhile, the second tranche of the Bureau of the Treasury’s (BTr) retail dollar bonds (RDB2) is on offer until Oct. 6, although the BTr has the option to shorten or lengthen the offer period.
At the auction held in time with RDB2’s launch on Sept. 27, the BTr awarded $611.2 million, which was triple the initial target amount of $200 million.
High demand
Sharon Almanza, acting national treasurer, said that as of Friday, total orders for RDB2 were already close to the $1 billion mark.
To promote RDB2, which is available in US dollars as well as in Philippine pesos at a minimum investment of $200, the BTr has embarked on a domestic and international campaign.
In the Philippines, the RDB2 roadshow went through Pampanga, Legazpi City (Albay), Batangas, Iloilo City, Bacolod City, Davao del Sur and Cebu City.
Overseas, the RDB2 campaign has so far run through the United States, Canada, Australia, Japan, Brunei, Middle East, Europe, South Korea, Singapore, Indonesia and China.
RDB2 “is a big leap toward achieving financial inclusion for our citizens, especially our dollar-earning overseas Filipino workers,” Diokno said.
He said the RDBs help promote financial literacy and inclusion among Filipinos as they are easily accessible to the investing public through online channels.