CITY OF SAN FERNANDO, Pampanga — Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) is inviting Central Luzon residents to invest in its 27th tranche of the Retail Treasury Bonds (RTBs).
Treasurer of the Philippines Rosalia De Leon said this year, the government’s borrowing strategy consists of raising P2.2 trillion, with around 75% to be sourced through the domestic market.
“Last year, RTB 25 and 26 raised over P832.3 billion. With this growing success and demand throughout the years, the RTBs now accounts to more than 30% of our government’s outstanding securities. But despite this monumental feat, we at the BTr are reminded that with a New Year, more can always be done to be and do better,” she said.
With the theme “Mula sa Puso, Para sa Pinas”, the BTr chief said this latest offering is the safest way to grow investment ultimately and can provide investors with a more financially secure future.
De Leon furthered that RTB has truly become a significant feature of the BTr savings mobilization program not only because it does make investing in government securities easily available to investors, but more importantly, allows for Filipinos all over the world to contribute to the funding of the national government’s programs.
Meanwhile, BTr said by maintaining a bias towards domestic sources of funding, they can not only protect the government from foreign exchange risks, but also take advantage of the Central Bank’s support to maintain an accommodative monetary stance.
“In addition to financing the government’s recovery, resilience, and emergency programs, the funds will also be used to continue the trajectory of the massive infrastructure push of our Build Build Build program aimed at maximizing economic efficiency and contribute to the achieving of Gross Domestic Product growth of 79%,” De Leon said.
Only a minimum of PhP5,000 is required for an individual to start investing. This provides an annual interest rate of 4.875% and are paid quarterly during its five year maturity period.
To avail of the RTBs, interested individuals may go to any of the 19 banks which are authorized selling agents of the BTr.
These include Asia United Bank, Banco de Oro Unibank, Inc., BDO Capital and Investment Corporation, BPI Capital Corporation, China Banking Corporation, Citibank NA, Development Bank of the Philippines, East West Banking Corporation, First Metro Investment Corporation, ING Bank NV, Land Bank of the Philippines, Metropolitan Bank & Trust Company, Philippine Bank of Communications, Philippine National Bank, Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation, Robinsons Bank Corporation, Security Bank Corporation, Standard Chartered Bank, and Union Bank of the Philippines.
Another way is to invest through the BTr Online Ordering Facility via treasury.gov.ph, but this is only for First Metro Investment Corporation, Land Bank of the Philippines, and China Banking Corporation.
Meanwhile, applications based investment channels can also be used to invest including the LBP Mobile Banking app, Overseas Filipino Bank Mobile Banking app, and Bonds.PH app.
As an additional feature, De Leon said that BTr is also introducing an exchange offer program called SWITCH, where bond holders of FXTN 20-02 and FXTN 3-24 which will mature on March 14, 2022 and July 4, 2022, respectively will be allowed to exchange their holdings for the latest RTB offering.
The bonds can be purchased until February 28, 2022, while the issue date is on March 4, 2022.
Also, in pursuit for financial literacy and inclusion, De Leon said BTr will launch its financial planning application that aims to make investment tools readily available to those who are keen in fulfilling their financial goals. With its varieties of functionalities, starting, planning, and managing one’s financial journey can now be made easier and more accessible to Filipinos around the globe. (CLJD/MJSC-PIA 3)
