The government is now looking at issuing the planned retail dollar bonds (RDBs) offer in the third quarter of the year and is hoping to generate $2 billion from the said transaction.
The said offering was initially eyed late last year, which was eventually moved to early this year, then the second quarter, and now the third quarter of 2023.
“It’s a moving target, we’re now looking at the third quarter. We were able to raise $1.5 billion before, so we’re hoping to surpass that. Let’s say $2 billion as an aspiration,” Rosalia de Leon, national treasurer, said in a press conference late Friday.
In October 2021, the Philippine government raised $1.593 billion, or around P80.83 billion, through the country’s first-ever onshore RDB offering.
The said RDBs are the first onshore US dollar-denominated bonds to be issued by the BTr in amounts of as low as $300.
“When we were discussing with overseas Filipino workers, there are arrangements that we have to make, especially for those who will open dollar accounts. Apparently, there are fees involved, so we are going to the agent banks to consider waiving those fees. We want to make sure that the necessary arrangements are ready so we will have a good reception for the RDBs,” de Leon said.
“We have to look at market conditions. So we’ll have a bigger volume, we really have to arrange the waiving of fees. We are also looking for a more comfortable exchange rate, so they have the upside,” she added.
De Leon added that the government is currently oozing with cash, thus they may also consider calibrating in terms of borrowings, as needed.
“We will have to calibrate based first in terms of the spending, and at the same time of course the collection. Right now, for the first quarter, we saw that the Bureaus of Internal Revenue and Customs overperformed. If that will continue, it will be able to shrink the deficit and we can also try to reduce our borrowings for the year, just as we did last year,” de Leon said.
Meanwhile, in the same press briefing, finance secretary Benjamin Diokno reiterated that he is for a pause in terms of rate hikes.
“There’s no reason why we should increase rates,” Diokno said when asked on his stance, further saying that inflation is easing, the jobs market is fine, government revenues are up, among others.
