Government eyes more ‘tokenized’ T-bonds sale

The Marcos administration is looking to sell more “tokenized” Treasury bonds following a successful maiden offering this week, the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) said.

“We will consider issuing TTBs again in the future especially after the warm reception from the market,” Deputy Treasurer Erwin Sta. Ana said in a phone message on Friday.

The government raised P15 billion during Monday’s launch of the tokenized T-bonds, bigger than the P10 billion it originally planned to borrow amid strong demand from creditors.

The new issuance made the Philippines among the countries that have included tokenized bonds in their menu of debt offerings.

The bonds, which fetched a rate of 6.50 percent, were payable in one year and targeted at institutional investors. Auction results showed total bids amounted to P31.43 billion, more than thrice the original size of the issuance.

Tokenized bonds are exchanged digitally through a blockchain. Unlike traditional bonds that need intermediaries like banks to be traded, tokenized debt securities can be bought and sold 24/7, thereby reducing transaction costs.

According to the BTr, the debt securities were sold in the form of “digital tokens” that will be maintained in the bureau’s Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT).

The BTr had said that if the pilot offer to institutional creditors ended up successfully, it may also tokenize retail T- bonds to attract small creditors.

According to Sta. Ana, the government will “continue with our issuance program for the remainder of the year.”

The BTr earlier announced its plan to borrow $1 billion via its first-ever sale of sukuk bonds by the end of the year.