P3B in ‘premyo bonds’ to be launched next week

The Bureau of the Treasury will launch next week at least P3 billion in one-year “premyo bonds” that retail investors can buy in multiples of P500 and get a chance to win up to P1 million in cash and other prizes.

National Treasurer Rosalia V. de Leon told reporters after Monday’s Treasury bills auction that the prize bonds would be sold through state-run lenders Development Bank of the Philippines and Land Bank of the Philippines as well as private banks that could offer them online during a three-week period ending in December.

De Leon pointed out that given the small denominations, over-the-counter sale might clog bank branches, hence the need to sell the premyo bonds online.

Selling the premyo bonds online will also allow more overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) to buy them, she added.

De Leon noted that not all banks were ready for an online sale, but the Treasury was giving them some more time before next week’s launch in time for the bureau’s anniversary celebration and the grant of Christmas bonuses to government employees.

Meanwhile, the Treasury only partially awarded the T-bills it offered as rates increased for short-dated securities amid competition with a slew of supply from bank and corporate bonds in the market.

The Treasury rejected all bids for the P8 billion in benchmark 91-day debt paper it offered, while accepting just P3.8 billion out of the P6-billion offering for 182-day IOUs at 3.198 percent, up from 3.174 percent previously.

It nonetheless sold all P6 billion in 364-day Treasury bills at 3.513 percent, down from 3.576 percent during the previous auction.