According to Bloomberg, the Philippines will launch tokenized national bonds for the first time next Monday to further develop the domestic debt market.
The Philippine Bureau of the Treasury stated that it will issue at least 10 billion pesos (approximately 179 million US dollars) of one-year tokenized bonds, with the right to change the issuance size. The institution has canceled the scheduled regular bond auction on the same day to prepare for the issuance of the new bonds.
Erwin Sta. Ana, Deputy Director of the Philippine Bureau of the Treasury, when asked if the country will issue tokenized bonds regularly after the initial sale, stated that according to the issuance notice, the Philippine Bureau of the Treasury will issue tokenized public bonds due in November 2024 to institutional buyers, with a minimum denomination of 10 million pesos and increments of 1 million pesos. The final interest rate will be determined through a quote-based auction and announced on November 20. The issuing managers are the two major national banks in the Philippines, the Development Bank of the Philippines and the Land Bank of the Philippines.
The trend of exploring blockchain and tokenized securities fundraising has been unfolding in Asia. The Hong Kong government announced in February this year that it successfully issued 800 million Hong Kong dollars of tokenized green bonds, which utilize Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) and have the potential to enhance liquidity and transparency in the debt market.