BTr sells P507 billion worth of RTBs

THE GOVERNMENT sold P507.16 billion worth of retail Treasury bonds (RTB), exceeding the target as investors sought better yields.

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National Treasurer Sharon P. Almanza told reporters on Monday that the RTB demand was driven by “very good fundamentals” and expectations that rates will continue to drop.

“I think [the market] expects that rates will go down. The rates rallied. They fell after the [rate-setting] auction,” she said.

The amount raised for the five-year RTBs was almost 17 times the P30-billion target but below the record-high P584.86 billion raised from the RTB offering in February 2024.

In a statement, the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) said the government raised P425.5 billion in new money, while the remaining P81.65 billion came from a bond exchange.

Ms. Almanza said there was more foreign participation for this RTB offering, compared with last year when foreign participation was around 5% of the total.

“Foreign participation was substantial for this RTB, which we didn’t see in the past... Very much more than 5%, double-digit percentage,” she said.