BTr raises P4.961 billion from premyo bonds

MANILA, Philippines — The government successfully raised P4.961 billion from the sale of one-year prize bonds, also known as “premyo bonds,” to small investors, the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) reported over the weekend.

In a text message, National Treasurer Rosalia De Leon said total sales during the three-week long offering of premyo bonds reached P4.961 billion, 65 percent higher than the original target of P3 billion.

Given the strong reception for the bond sale, De Leon said the BTr is planning to recommend to Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez a repeat of this kind of fund raising activity in the future.

The BTr’s premyo bond offering was launched on Nov. 25 and lasted until Dec. 13. It was open to all individual investors, associations and cooperatives.

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

However, De Leon said the Treasury had decided to upsize the volume for its prize bond offering to accommodate more orders and introduce more Filipinos into the habit of investing their money. 

Under the fund raising activity, the Treasury sold the bonds at multiples of P500. 

Each investment carries 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 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.

The government raises money from the domestic capital market as part of its borrowing program.

Proceeds from the fund raising activity will be used to fund the national government’s requirements and plug the expected deficit in budget, which is capped at 3.2 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP) this 2019.

In the first nine months of the year, the national government’s domestic gross borrowings jumped by nearly 57 percent to P626.28 billion from P399 billion in the same period last year.