IT’S investing, saving and having the chance to become a millionaire.

This was the call of the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) to attract small and potential investors as it launched its promo, Premyo Bonds, an attractive investment opportunity for individuals, organizations and cooperatives that can set aside at least P500 for one year.

According to BTr deputy treasurer Sharon Almanza, Premyo Bonds are debt issued by the government wherein in addition to receiving regular interest every quarter, bondholders will be eligible to join quarterly raffle draws in which they can win cash prizes of up to P1 million.

“This is an inaugural offering of the BTr. It’s our instrument to really encourage retail investors while at the same time, raise funding for the government. We will be using the proceeds for financing our requirements for the year, especially for capital expenditure and capital development to support education and health among others,” she said during BTr’s Cebu roadshow on Wednesday, Nov. 27, 2019.

The principal amount will be returned to the investor once the bond matures after one year. To encourage participation among individual investors, Premyo Bonds will have a minimum investment amount of only P500.

“We want to encourage new investors to invest in government securities. The maturity is very short. It’s one year, unlike our regular retail treasury bonds where the tenure is three to five or even 10 years,” she said.

Each P500 bond unit will give the bondholder a chance to be one of the 61 winners of property units like condominium units and cash prizes in each quarterly draw.

Almanza assured that investing in bonds is secure because it is backed by the Republic of the Philippines.

She said it has an interest rate of three percent per year.

To participate in the activity, an investor should have a bank account in selected banks like the Development Bank of the Philippines, Land Bank of the Philippines, BDO Capital and Investment Corp., China Bank Capital Corp. and First Metro Investment Corp., which are the identified selling agents of Premyo Bonds.

Almanza said interested investors can visit the website: https://www.treasury.gov.ph/premyobonds/ for a more comprehensive guide and even an onsite calculator of the returns of the Premyo Bonds.