Gov’t sets new record for RTB sales

MANILA, Philippines - The government has set a new record for its retail treasury (RTB) bond sale, selling P188 billion worth of the 25-year debt, National Treasurer Roberto Tan said yesterday.

The Bureau of the Treasury closed the sale on Thursday, ahead of the Oct. 22 deadline as sales already reached the projected requirements.

“Sales hit about P188 billion. Volume consistently oversubscribed many times over on daily offers submitted, Tan said.

The P188 billion breached the February RTB debt sale when the government sold P179.9 billion worth of 15 and 20-year retail debt.

This is the first time the government sold 25-year RTBs.

For the latest offering, the government sold the 6.125 percent RTBs to individual retail investors and to government-owned or controlled corporations (GOCCs) and local government units.

The Treasury had to cancel the Oct. 15 Treasury Bill auction and the Oct. 9 and Oct. 23 auctions for Treasury bonds to make way for the RTB sale.

The Treasury started the RTB sale with a price-setting auction on Oct. 9, selling an initial P62.988 billion in 25-year RTBs at a coupon rate of 6.125 percent.

The bonds were offered to the public through 23 selling agents led by issue managers, the Land Bank of the Philippines and the Development Bank of the Philippines.