The government upsized its Treasury bill (T-bill) auction for the second consecutive week on Monday, raising P25 billion from an initial offering of P22 billion amid robust investor demand.
The Bureau of the Treasury said it awarded P7 billion for the 91-day T-bill and P7.5 billion for the 182-day T-bill. For the 364-day T-bill, the amount awarded increased to P10.5 billion from an initial P7.5 billion offering.
This week’s auction was 4.5-times oversubscribed, with total bids reaching P99.1 billion. The strong demand prompted the auction committee to double the accepted non-competitive bids for the 364-day T-bill to P6 billion.
The 91-day tenor attracted P30.58 billion in total tenders and fetched an average rate of 4.874 percent. The 182-day tenor received P37.26 billion in total tenders and fetched an average rate of 5.026 percent. The 364-day tenor attracted P31.26 billion in total bids and fetched an average rate of 5.099 percent.
The auction yields slightly corrected higher, following consecutive weeks of fetching lower yields, according to Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. (RCBC) chief economist Michael Ricafort.
Ricafort said this came after the comparable Philippine peso (PHP) Bloomberg Valuation (BVAL) were mixed week-on-week, ahead of the release of October inflation data on Nov. 5. Inflation is expected to inch slightly higher than the 1.7 percent recorded in September.
