Increased utilization of digital processes due to the pandemic helped more Filipinos contribute more to the government’s recovery program, National Treasurer Rosalia de Leon said yesterday.
In her speech during the first quarterly raffle for the year of Premyo Bonds 2, de Leon said investors of the second issuance of the one-year retail debt paper came from 70 countries worldwide who invested about P152 million worth of funds.
Proceeds of the debt issuance will be used to help finance the government’s economic recovery programs.
Minimum placement in Premyo Bonds is P500 while maximum investment is P10 million.
“Indeed, the pandemic triggered permanent and far-reaching changes that arguably accelerated the rise of financial technology,” de Leon said.
She attributed the volume of investments to the ability of overseas Filipino workers to place their funds in government-issued securities through the mobile application of the first government-owned digital bank, the Overseas Filipino Bank (OFBank), and the mobile app BONDS.PH.
De Leon said when the pandemic hit the country in March last year, the first quarterly draw of the initial Premyo Bond was postponed.
The raffle draw eventually pushed through in the second quarter, wherein winners for both quarters were drawn.
De Leon said the challenges brought about by the pandemic even raised the question of the probability of another Premyo Bond issuance.
“Yet, here we are right now having our first draw of an even bigger Premyo Bonds, handing out larger rewards to a greater number of potential winners from a pool of investors across more countries,” she added.
Earlier, de Leon said about 70.6 percent of placements in Premyo Bonds 2 is accounted for by investments through BONDS.PH and the OFBank.
She said there will be 196 winners for the Premyo Bonds 2 raffle draw for this year who will get PHP7.5 million plus 2 Toyota Innova units.*PNA
