Philippines raises over $1 billion from retail dollar bonds sale

The Philippine government has raised over $1 billion from selling dollar-denominated bonds to the investing public.

In his weekly press chat, Finance Secretary Benjamin Diokno said the Department of Finance (DOF), through the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr), raised about $1.26 billion from its second Retail Onshore Dollar Bonds.

The BTr launched the retail dollar bonds offering on September 27, 2023, while the offer period ran until October 6, 2023.

The issue date is scheduled on October 11, 2023.

“It’s closed… [We’ve raised] $1.26 billion,” Diokno said.

During the launch, the government was able to raise $611.2 million, nearly three times the target amount of $200 million.

Deputy Treasurer Erwin Sta. Ana said, “For the offer period, we were able to raise an additional $650 million more, bringing it to a total of $1.26 billion.“

The retail dollar bonds have a tenor of five years and a half and a gross interest rate of 5.750% per annum, payable every quarter until its maturity in 2029.

Under the retail onshore dollar bonds offer, Filipinos can invest for as low as $200 and in multiples of $100 thereafter.

Apart from raising funds for the government’s budgetary requirements, the dollar-denominated retail bonds offering is part of the administration’s goal to promote financial inclusion among Filipinos.

“There's a little bit of a premium because we really want the Overseas Filipino Workers to invest... so they learn how to invest,” Diokno said.

The Finance chief earlier said the retail dollar bonds offer is “a big leap towards achieving financial inclusion for our citizens, especially our collar-earning Overseas Filipino Workers.” — BM, GMA Integrated News