Gov’t raises P167.25B from new retail bonds
The Marcos administration has raised P167.25 billion in new money from its 32nd retail Treasury bond (RTB) offering, exceeding its P150-billion target after a weeklong offer period.
Initially, the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) set a P30-billion target in its notice of offering before raising it to P150 billion during the launch.
While it surpassed the target, the amount raised was still 61 percent lower than the P425.51 billion generated from last year’s offering.
This is consistent with National Treasurer Sharon Almanza’s earlier signal that the government would scale back the size by more than half from last year amid elevated yields and several auctions still lined up for the rest of 2026.
Of the total, P84.86 billion was raised during the rate-setting auction on Sept. 29, when bids for the new bonds reached P188.6 billion.
The remaining P82.39 billion came from the offer period, which ran from Sept. 29 to Oct. 7.
Bond switch
The BTr has yet to announce the amount raised through the bond switch component, which allowed holders of five existing securities to exchange their eligible bond holdings for the new RTBs.
The latest bonds will mature on April 12, 2029, or in 2.5 years, and carry a coupon rate of 6.875 percent.
Unlike last year’s offering, which featured five-year maturities, this year’s bonds have a shorter tenor, with Almanza citing investors’ reluctance to lock in their money for longer periods amid uncertainty.
Small investors were able to purchase the bonds for as little as P5,000 through traditional and online channels, including GCash via GBonds, China Bank, Landbank, Overseas Filipino Bank, PDAX, ATRAM Prime, ATRAM PERA and RCBC Pulz.
The latest RTBs form part of the government’s P892-billion domestic borrowing program for the fourth quarter, more than double the P437-billion target for the same period last year.
Of the total, P462 billion is expected to come from Treasury bills and another P430 billion from Treasury bonds.
Proceeds from the offering could also help refinance about P142 billion in maturing RTBs, including P90 billion in September and P52.12 billion this October.
RTBs have become one of the government’s main sources of domestic financing to help plug its budget deficit, which is projected to reach P1.658 trillion this year, equivalent to 5.4 percent of gross domestic product.
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