THE GOVERNMENT is looking to raise about P40 billion through retail bonds sold in tranches to help finance the rehabilitation of Marawi City in the next five years, the Department of Finance (DoF) said in a press statement on Monday.
The statement quoted Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III as saying that rehabilitation of Marawi City, which was nearly levelled by five months of fighting last year between government forces and Islamic State-inspired militants, would cost about P62 billion, with some P10 billion already allocated in this year’s national budget.
P10 BILLION A YEAR
“This is over five years. This is not immediate… it’s over five years and there is a progression — the total is P62 billion. So we will have to do now our financial planning,” Mr. Dominguez said.
He said that the bond sale “depends on the market at that time so, roughly P10 billion a year, probably we will end up raising maybe P40 billion of the P62 billion.”
Retail bonds were the chosen instrument “so that people will really feel that they are participating in the rebuilding of Marawi City,” the Finance chief said.
“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,” Mr. Dominguez added.
The government funding is separate from the planned public-private partnership for rehabilitation of the city’s most affected area.
Mr. Dominguez said that the P12-billion balance will come in the form of grants.
“Now that we have a hard number, we will now go to the details on where the money will come from. Certain portions of the money will come from grants,” he said. — Elijah Joseph C. Tubayan

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