State-owned Land Bank of the Philippines (Landbank) launched yesterday a high-yielding deposit instrument which will be available to the public until May 16, 2008 in all of its branches as well as HSBC branches.
The long-term negotiable certificates of deposit or LTNCD caters specifically for overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) to help them cope with the steady appreciation of the peso against the dollar.
The LTNCD is a peso-denominated certificate that will be issued in P20,000 denominations in five-and-a-half and 10-year tenors. It is covered by insurance from the Philippine Deposit Insurance Corp. of up to P250,000 per depositor.
It is also exempt from withholding tax if investors will opt to hold on to the instrument up to its maturity.
The first public offering is for the short-term only. The instrument, which carries an average annual yield of seven percent, will be issued at a discounted amount of P13,699.
Landbank president and chief executive officer Gilda Pico urged Filipinos abroad to invest in the bank’s program.
“In effect, an OFW will only need P13,699 to purchase an LTNCD unit. If he holds it up to maturity or 5 1/2 years, his investment will grow to P20,000,” Pico said.
The Landbank chief said the instrument carries a higher yield compared to other existing saving and time deposit products.
Pico added that the discount mode is more advantageous to OFWs since the bank offers a discounted amount of P13,699.
“This is the minimum amount which OFWs or their relatives can invest, but they can purchase more,” Pico said. Landbank announced the LTNCD to Filipino business leaders in Dubai last January, coinciding with the launch of its OFW Cash Card.
The bank is the country’s fourth largest bank in terms of assets, loans and deposits.
Last year, it posted a net income of P4.2 billion or 19 percent higher than the P3.5 billion registered in 2006.
Income from loans, investments and foreign exchange allowed Landbank’s gross revenues to expand by five percent or P1.24 billion.