Finance plans to issue Marawi bonds in tranches
The Finance department is aiming to raise a total of P40 billion to fund the rehabilitation and reconstruction of Marawi City by offering retail treasury bonds (RTBs) in several tranches.
In a statement on Monday, Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez 3rd noted that Task Force Bangon Marawi had estimated the cost of reconstruction to reach P62 billion.
He said that P10 billion was already included in this year’s General Appropriations Act, hence the need to explore ways on how to finance the remaining P52 billion.
The Finance department is currently finalizing the timing of the Marawi bond issuances, Dominguez added.
“We will issue it definitely in tranches because we should not borrow more than what we need for that year… We already have P10 billion already budgeted so we will go and get more details on how much is actually required and at what dates,” the Finance chief said.
He said that the government might issue the Marawi bonds as RTBs “so that people will really feel that they are participating in the rebuilding of Marawi City.”
The tenor of the bonds would depend on market conditions and the issuance might be P10 billion a year, with the government probably “end(ing) up raising maybe P40 billion of the P62 billion” total rehabilitation cost.
The southern city of Marawi was devastated last year after Muslim extremists attempted a takeover. It took the government five months to liberate the city.
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