Treasury expects to issue at least P30 billion worth of RTBs at Oct. 9 sale

The government expects to issue at least P30 billion worth of 25-year retail treasury bonds at its rate-setting auction on Oct. 9, said Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) Deputy Treasurer Eduardo Mendiola on Monday. 

 

The RTBs will then be offered to the public until Oct. 22. 

 

The demand for RTBs—debt papers issued by the government for as low as P5,000—has been steadily growing over the years, said the Treasury.

 

A domestic debt exchange will be held in November, in which the government plans to exchange outstanding shorter-dated debt in the market with longer-dated papers.

 

According to BTr officials, the government is looking at issuing P60 billion each of 5-, 7-, 10-, 15-, 20- and 25-year T-bonds and exchange these with outstanding debt in the market. The most recent domestic bond exchange was in July 2011, when the government accepted tenders amounting to P292.5 billion for bonds for debt maturing in 2022 and 2031. The average national government debt maturity lengthened to 10.18 years in 2011, the longest average maturity since 2001, says the Department of Finance.  

 

According to Mendiola, the RTB debt sale of 15-year and 20-year bonds in February that brought the government P179.9 billion showed that investors are becoming comfortable with the idea of keeping their funds in long-term debt, with the knowledge that they could sell this any time in the secondary market. — BM, GMA News