THE national government on Tuesday successfully raised P162.18 billion from its initial tender of 5.5-year retail treasury bonds (RTBs), according to the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr).
The amount was more than quintupled than the P30 billion offering made by the Treasury for the 29th tranche of the RTBs.
The launch of the latest RTB offering saw an initial tender from investors of P196.109 billion, an oversubscription of 6.5 times, based on BTr data.
The RTBs had a coupon rate of 6.125 percent, slightly higher than the secondary market benchmark rates of 5.839 percent for 5-year tenor and 5.913 percent for 6-year tenor.
The RTBs will be available to the public at a minimum initial investment of P5,000 until February 17 with settlement date set on February 22, according to the Treasury.
“It already goes without saying that our retail issuance has always been an integral part of our funding operations,” National Treasurer Rosalia V. De Leon said during the RTB-29 launch.
“Retail issuances have been a pivotal contributor to meeting our overall funding responsibilities as 38 percent of our outstanding government securities are retail instruments,” De Leon added.
De Leon noted that the national government is keen on borrowing more from the domestic debt market than from abroad to protect the country from “adverse effects” of exchange rate risks.
This year the national government is eyeing to borrow a total of P2.21 trillion, about P1.65 billion of which will come from the domestic debt market.
The National Treasurer also pointed out that the BTr continues to make “strides” in bringing opportunities closer to retail investors through digitization that streamline the processes in investing in government securities like RTBs.
“RTB-29 reflects our desire to forge closer ties with our investors,” De Leon said.
“It is also an affirmation of the Treasury’s signature offering carefully strengthened for almost 22 years of arduous endeavor toward a more efficient retail market and smart choice of investment,” she added.
De Leon disclosed that the Treasury has raised P4.8 trillion throughout the 28 tranches of RTBs since its inception in 2001.
