LandBank disposes of P4B in investment certificates

The Land Bank of the Philippines (LBP) has sold more than 70 percent or P4.06 billion of the P5.52-billion Internal Revenue Allotment Monetization Program (IMP) investment certificates issued by participating local government units (LGUs) through the Special Purpose Trust.

Of the P4.06 billion, the LBP invested around P3.8 billion while an additional P187 million came from various institutional investor.

LBP president and chief executive officer Gary B. Teves said the bank took the lead in investing in the Investment Certificates to support the development efforts of LGUs nationwide.

Around 30,776 participating LGUs comming from 68 provinces, 89 cities, 1,357 municipalities and 29,262 barangays will benefit from the proceeds of the issuance.

The investment certificates were crafted by a task force to address the National Government’s unpaid IRA obligations to LGUs. The proceeds of the sale of certificates will enable participating LGUs to monetize their unpaid IRA.

The task force consists of the Office of the President, Department of Finance (DOF), Department of Budget and Management (DBM) Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) and the Union of Local Authorities of the Philippines.

The IMP investment certificates consist of six series with various maturity dates. The discount rates, ranging from seven percent to 16.6 percent, were sent on March 22, 2002 through the "dutch auction" process.

The notice of payment schedules issued by the DBM serves as the underlying asset of the IMP investment certificates.