PSE sets listing of SDT-bonds on Jan 15, 2001

The government’s small denominated Treasury bonds (SDT-bonds) will be listed and traded starting Jan. 15, 2001, according to the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE).

In a letter to Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chairman Lilia Bautista, PSE president Ramon Garcia said that in accordance with their agreement with the Department of Finance (DoF) and the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr), PSE issued last Sept. 28 a set of guidelines on the trading of debt securities.

The listing of SDT-bonds worth P30.3 billion is aimed at widening the investor base for government securities and giving the masses a chance to put their money in higher interest bearing and safe investments.

A component of the BTr’s Small Investors Program (SIP) under the Estrada administration, the SDT-bonds, the first government securities to be listed on the PSE, are part of the government’s program to issue P50-billion peso-denominated and $500-million dollar-denominated bonds with a term of five years and one day.

The PSE will list the outstanding P30.35 billion SDT-bonds which were issued in two tranches last year. The first tranche amounted to P11.6 billion last July 14, 1999, the second to P18.7 billion last Oct. 15, 1999.

Both tranches were issued by the Land Bank of the Philippines, Development Bank of the Philippines, Banco de Oro, All Asia Capital and the former Wincorp Investments.

The SDT-bonds, having a fixed coupon rate of 13.625 percent, are in P5,000 denominations which can allow small savers to use this type of government security. Trading of SDT-bonds in the stock market is exempted from capital gains tax, stock transaction tax, and documentary stamp tax.