‘Record’ P584.86B raised via RTBs

Bureau of the Treasury

The Marcos administration borrowed a “record” P584.86 billion from local small investors during its 30th sale of Retail Treasury Bonds (RTBs), giving the government needed budgetary support for its projects and programs.

A total of P212.72 billion was initially raised during the rate-setting auction for the five-year RTBs on Feb. 13, blowing past the P30 billion that the government had originally targeted to borrow from retail investors, the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) said in a statement.

Meanwhile, an additional P372.14 billion in orders came in during the remainder of the offer period that ended on Feb. 23. Of that amount, P128.69 billion was raised in new money while P243.45 billion were old RTBs that had been swapped for the fresh bonds.

The new RTBs will settle on Feb. 28 and will mature in 2029. The debt paper fetched an average rate of 6.156 percent.

The BTr said the proceeds would be used to help fund various projects in key sectors including agriculture, infrastructure, education and health care. INQ