The government sold P15 billion worth of Treasury bills Monday amid strong market demand that pulled down interest rates across all tenors.
Data from the Bureau of the Treasury showed total tenders for the 91-, 182 and 364-day T-bills reached P55.12 billion, or more than three times the P15-billion offering.
“The auction committee decided to fully award the Treasury bills offered at auction today [Monday]. With the auction going more than three times oversubscribed, the 91-, 182, and 364-day T-bills were awarded at an average rate of 2.148 percent, 2.494 percent, and 2.835 percent, respectively, all lower than previous auction rates,” the Treasury said in a statement.
“The auction attracted P55.12 billion in total tenders, highlighting ample liquidity and strong interest in short-dated government securities,” it said.
Total tenders for the 91-day or three-month instruments reached P23.9 billion, but the committee rejected P17.9 billion of the bids. The 182-day or six-month papers lured total bids of P13.945 billion but P8.945 billion were rejected.
Meanwhile, total tenders for the year-long instruments reached P17.225 billion, but P13.225 billion of them were rejected.
The Bureau of the Treasury earlier raised a total of P175 billion from the latest issuance of three-year retail treasury bonds including those generated from roadshows conducted nationwide.
National Treasurer Rosalia de Leon said total bids for the RTBs reached P500 billion but the Treasury awarded only P105 billion in roadshow auctions.
“We received more than P500 billion and accepted more than P105 billion in addition to P70b from the auction,” de Leon said in a statement.
The P175 billion raised was significantly bigger than the 10-year, P100 billion generated in September last year, the first issuance under the Duterte administration.
The agency said the issuances were aimed at augmenting funds for the implementation of development projects under the Duterte administration, particularly infrastructure projects.
