BTr to offer small T-bills to thrift banks

National Treasurer Leonor Briones said yesterday that the Bureau of Treasury (BTr) will offer small-denominated Treasury (SDT) bills and bonds to thrift banks.

At the same time, Briones said the government has changed its plan to list the SDT bonds in the Philippine Stock Exchange this July.

Instead, she said the government might opt to develop an "alternative" bond exchange that will cater to secondary bond market offerings.

In a press conference, Briones said they have also forged an agreement with the Chamber of Thrift Banks (CTB) to include these small banks in retailing the SDT bills.

"This will allow the rural folks to avail of SDT bills," Briones said, adding that the move will also increase the government's subscription of these bills.

According to Briones, they will also launch today the Small Investors Program (SIP) in Makati City. The BTr has initially issued about P200-million worth of T-bills to be offered to major cities and provinces.

The national treasurer said with this new SIP offering, they will target office workers, vendors, government employees, and all other ordinary Filipinos as well as the business executives based in Metro Manila.

"The launching of SIP in Makati is significant because it will signal the cooperative union between the small and big investors in an effort to develop and benefit from them," she said.

SIP was introduced by BTr with an aim of democratizing access to government securities.

Under the SIP, ordinary Filipinos can save some of their earnings, earn interest from it, and help the national government generate funds for its operations with their investments in P5,000, P10,000 or P20,000 denominated T-bills.