BTr hikes volume of ‘premyo bonds’

MANILA, Philippines — The Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) decided Tuesday to upsize the volume for its prize bond offering, also known as “premyo bonds,” to introduce more Filipinos into the habit of investing their money.  

In an interview, National Treasurer Rosalia De Leon said the government has already booked P3.68 billion in orders for its prize bond offering, higher than the original target of P3 billion.

De Leon said the Treasury has decided to accept the excess orders, and  may likely continue to absorb more investments until the end of the offer period on Dec. 13,.

 “We’re already at P3.68 billion. We’ll accept (orders) until Friday. We can upsize and we’re seeing good demand,” De Leon told reporters.

However, De Leon said the Treasury has not yet determined the new ceiling for the fund raising activity.

The national treasurer said the government is still anticipating more investments to come from institutions, such as cooperatives, associations, retirement funds and provident funds.

 “They have to go through their approval processes so we’re providing some time for them to be able to do their own homework,” she said.

 Just yesterday, De Leon said total orders amounted to P732 million, the highest daily sales for the premyo bonds so far. She said the total order book may likely reach about P5 billion if this trend continues.

 The BTr is planning to initially raise P3 billion from the sale of lottery bonds, which will have a maturity of one year.

 Under the fund raising activity, the Treasury will sell the securities at multiples of P500. 

 Each investment will carry quarterly coupon payments, as well as a chance to win condominium units or house-and-lots, and as much as P1 million in cash prizes during quarterly draws. 

Unlike regular raffle games, investors of premyo bonds may still redeem their principal payments when the bonds mature after one year.

The BTr has tapped Land Bank of the Philippines, Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP), BDO, China Bank, Philippine National Bank and First Metro Investments Corp. (FMIC) as joint issue managers for the issuance.

Investors may also invest in the securities online through the facilities of the Landbank and DBP.