The government expects to raise at least P30 billion from the offering of five-year Progreso bonds that started on July 16.
It said Thursday the government would use the proceeds to be generated from the Progreso bonds, also called Retail Treasury Bonds Tranche 24, to fund health initiatives, especially priority measures, to respond to and recover from the COVID-19 crisis and extend support to overseas Filipino workers and small and medium enterprises.
For a minimum investment of P5,000, interested investors may purchase the bonds. On July 16, the Department of Finance and Bureau of the Treasury launched, through a virtual qualified institutional investor’s briefing, the five-year bond offering with bond exchange, to generate at least P30 billion.
The virtual event was led by Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez and National Treasurer Rosalia De Leon, along with Land Bank of the Philippines president and chief executive officer Cecilia Borromeo and Development Bank of the Philippines president and CEO Emmanuel Herbosa.
The bonds will be offered to the investing public until Aug. 7, 2020, with state-run lenders LandBank and DBP as the joint lead issue managers. They will be joined by BDO Capital and Investment Corp., BPI Capital Corp., China Bank Capital, First Metro Investment Corp., PNB Capital Corp., RCBC Capital Corp., SB Capital Corp. and Union Bank of the Philippines as joint issue managers.
“LandBank’s participation in the RTB-24 or Progreso Bonds offering is a testament to the bank’s unwavering support to the national government to raise funds for its socio-economic development initiatives. Rest assured that the bank will do its part to promote and encourage retail investors to invest in the Progreso Bonds,” Borromeo said.
Interested investors may purchase the bonds through the branches of LandBank and those of participating institutions. They can also purchase the bonds through the RTB online ordering facility at the BTr’s website and through the BONDS.PH mobile application.
On top of selling the new bonds, the Treasury will allow holders of previously issued bonds, namely, RTB 10-01, FXTN 05-73, RTB 10-02 and FXTN 07-57 to exchange and reinvest their bond holdings for the RTB-24.
It is the second time that the Treasury will issue retail treasury bonds this year, after the issuance of the RTB-23 with exchange offer in February. The RTBs are generally considered low-risk investments which allow investors to earn a fixed interest quarterly during the term of the bond based on prevailing market rates.