Small Filipino investors swamped the government’s latest retail bond sale, prompting the Bureau of the Treasury to end the offer period ahead of schedule after orders exceeded the target.
In a statement on Thursday, Feb. 16, National Treasurer Rosalia V. De Leon said the bureau raised P283.71 billion from the 5.5-year retail treasury bonds (RTB) sale, higher than the government’s P250 billion ceiling.
Of that amount, P162.18 billion was awarded at the rate-setting auction last Feb. 7, while an additional P121.53 billion was raised during the one-week offer period, which include P31.67 billion from a swap offer.
“The overwhelming support that we have received has been instrumental for us to achieve our target volume ahead of schedule,” De Leon said.
“This has also paid dividends for our efforts to navigate a challenging economic backdrop, and an inspiration to relentlessly pursue reforms for our domestic capital markets,” she added.
The RTB, with a gross coupon rate of 6.125 percent per annum, was originally set to run from Feb. 7 to 17 but was closed two days earlier than the scheduled closing date.
On average, orders reached P130 billion per day during the nine-day offer period, De Leon said.
“Proceeds from the RTB 29 issuance will help the country support various programs for economic resiliency such as those under the agriculture, infrastructure, education, and healthcare sectors,” De Leon said.
This is President Marcos’ second RTB. The last time he sold debt to retail investors was in September 2022, during which the government borrowed P420.25 billion of the five-year papers.
The RTB is made available for as low as P5,000 through the traditional over- the-counter placement in bank branches.
The IOUs were also sold through digital channels such as the treasury’s RTB Online Ordering Facility, the Bonds.PH mobile app, the Overseas Filipino Bank Mobile Banking App, and the Land Bank Mobile Banking App.
This retail bond offer will be the 29th of its kind made since its inception.
The issuance of retail bonds has been part of the government’s savings mobilization program designed to make government securities available to retail investors and at the same time create savings consciousness among Filipinos.
The government has been tapping funds from individuals since 2001 and had raised more than P4.8 trillion from the sale of the bonds with denominations as low as P5,000 in the past 22-years.