AN economist-lawmaker said the country’s first offering of Retail Dollar Bonds (RDB) is both “a fair deal for investors and a good borrowing strategy for the government.”
House Committee on Ways and Means Chairman Joey Sarte Salceda made the statement following the notes’ successful issuance this week.
The Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) said it raised $866.2 million (about P43.18 billion) in its first offering of retail dollar bonds.
The agency awarded $551.8 million (around P27.5 billion) in 5-year retail onshore dollar bonds (RDB) and $314.4 million (about P15.67 million) in 10-year bonds during the auction. The 5-year bonds fetched a coupon rate of 1.375 percent while the 10-year RDBs had an annual interest rate of 2.25 percent.
“Overall, it’s a fair deal for both the creditor and the government. We should do it more often, given the reception, as an alternative to offshore bond offerings,” Salceda added.
Salceda, whose committee also oversees the country’s debt management strategy, said that borrowing foreign currency from Filipino creditors is still much better than borrowing offshore.
“It’s also a good time to offer dollar-denominated bonds for the government, as the value of the currency has begun stabilizing to prepandemic levels,” Salceda added.
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