Take it or Leave it! ADVICE NI TITA LITS
Isabelita Manalastas-Watanabe
Dear Tita Lits Readers, and all other OFWs in Japan: Last Feb. 22, 2021, a zoom meeting for Filipinos/OFWs in Japan was arranged by our Philippine Embassy in Tokyo, to discuss investing in Retail Treasury Bonds (RTB). I joined that meeting, as I thought I could help in disseminating the information, at least to my company’s remittance clients, if not to all OFWs in Japan. However, as you can see from the above marketing collateral introducing RTB25, we cannot anymore participate in the offering as the deadline was last March 4, 2021 already. Those who joined that Feb.
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22 zoom meeting had only a window of less than two (2) weeks to make a decision to invest, much less to understand better what an RTB is, and to complete various requirements to be able to participate. I asked the head of our Bureau of the Treasury if the offering could be extended, but the answer was no. There may be succeeding offerings in the future, so I would like to assist our OFWs in making very basic and simple explanation on whether it is worth investing in RTBs or not. 1. As you can see in above marketing collateral, the annual interest rate offered is 2.375%, higher than the prevailing savings rate (or even time deposit rates) offered by Philippine banks,
and super high as compared to interest rates in Japan (almost zero, to negative!). 2. Note, however, the maturity of the investment – three (3) years. It means you are expected to hold on to the RTB for at least 3 years, to be able to enjoy the full 2.375% annual interest; 3. You have to remember that if you are earning in Yen, then you need to remit your Yen to your acceptable RTB settlement Peso savings account in the Philippines, to be able to purchase, or sell your RTBs; 4. If you are in the Philippines, and earn in pesos, then you do not have to worry about foreign exchange (FX) risk. Invest in Pesos; earn in Pesos; 5. But if you are using foreign currency like Yen to remit to your designated bank settlement account in the
March - April 2021
