The government on Friday bared final plans to sell so-called retail dollar bonds of up to $3 billion next month as part of the broad plan to support this year’s spending program.
In briefing financial reporters at the launching of Australia’s Partnerships for Infrastructure program on Friday, Finance Secretary Benjamin Diokno said some $2 billion to $3 billion in US dollar-denominated bonds will be sold to give investors, Filipinos included, an opportunity to invest in a safe investment vehicle.
“The proceeds from the retail bond said will be used for budget financing,” Diokno said.
According to him, the government will likely launch the endeavor in Washington DC in mid-April at the sidelines of the spring meetings of the International Monetary Fund/World Bank.
Both the Secretary of Finance and the governor of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) regularly attend the annual event in the American capital.
Diokno in December last year announce the intention to sell retail dollar bonds within the first three months this year and subsequently followed up by launching an economic briefing for potential investors in London and Frankfurt late in January this year.
Diokno said the dollar-denominated retail bond sale will be treated as a domestic debt transaction that should not expose an overseas Filipino worker (OFW) with disposable income, for instance, to a currency risk that limits one’s capacity to profit from such an investment.
He also said the proposed US dollar retail bond sale generated a lot of interest when presented to investors in Frankfurt, London and even in Japan when the plan was presented.
“When we floated the idea in Frankfurt and London, it received a warn reception,” Diokno said.
